In the entire history of the Oscars there has been only one female winner of best director – and that is not going to change in 2020.
No women have been nominated in the category this year.
The most high-profile omission is Greta Gerwig, director of Little Women, which has been nominated in six other categories.
Also overlooked are Marielle Heller for A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood, Lorene Scafaria for Hustlers, Lulu Wang for The Farewell, and Olivia Wilde for Booksmart.
The only woman to win the best director Oscar is Kathryn Bigelow, who triumphed in 2010 with The Hurt Locker.
And Bigelow is one of just five women who have ever been nominated in the director category.
The others are Lina Wertmuller (nominated for Seven Beauties in 1977), Jane Campion (The Piano, 1994), Sofia Coppola (Lost In Translation, 2004) and Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird in 2018).
In failing to nominate any women in the category of best director, the Oscars are following the pattern of this year’s Baftas and Golden Globes, both of which had best director lists that were 100% male.
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