In 2018, Natalie Portman made headlines for reporting the lack of women nominated for direction at the Golden Globes. While on stage to present the award for best director, she joked: “Here are the all-male nominees.”
Well, for the first time in a long time, the Golden Globe overcame that omission and recognized filmmakers.
After excluding women from the category of best director in the past six years, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association – the voting body behind the annual award – nominated not one, not two, but three women: Chloe Zhao for “Nomadland”, Emerald Fennell for “Promising young woman” and Regina King for “One Night in Miami”.
They will compete against David Fincher for “Mank” and Aaron Sorkin for “The Trial of the Chicago 7”.
It is the first time in history that more than one woman is nominated in the category of best director at the Golden Globe Awards. Before this year, only five directors had been nominated since the first ceremony in 1944 – Barbra Streisand (in 1984 for “Yentl” and in 1991 for “The Prince of the Tides”), Jane Campion (in 1994 for “The Piano”), Sofia Coppola (in 2004 for “Lost in Translation”), Kathryn Bigelow (in 2010 for “The Hurt Locker” and 2013 for “Zero Dark Thirty”); and Ava DuVernay (in 2015 for “Selma”).
In general, the awards do not have a stellar record when it comes to honoring women behind the camera. The Oscar only nominated five women in 92 years. Lina Wertmüller (in 1976 for “Seven Beauties”), Jane Campion (in 1993 for “The Piano”), Sofia Coppola (in 2003 for “Lost in Translation”), Kathryn Bigelow (in 2009 for “The Hurt Locker”) and Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird” 2017).
Zhao’s nomination for “Nomandland”, a wild western starring Frances McDormand, makes her the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated for best director. King’s nod to “One Night in Miami”, which follows a fictional encounter of four legends, makes her the second black woman (after DuVernay) to be nominated.
Streisand is the only woman to win the Golden Globe for best director. But that could change on February 28, when the program airs.