Film

No Female Directors Were Nominated For A Golden Globe And The People Are Angry

It's another list dominated by white males.

by Patrick Lenton  12 December 2017
Golden Globes

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The nominations for the 75th annual Golden Globes awards were unveiled in LA overnight, and amongst the usual snubs and flubs, one massive oversight has caught people’s attention: not a single woman was nominated for the Best Director category.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has been on the receiving end of some fairly pointed backlash after it revealed its nominations for the Best Director category — a bunch of dudes.

In a year dominated by high performing and critically received films directed by women AND by sexual misconduct allegations against powerful men in Hollywood, the oversight seems particularly egregious.

The women passed over include Dee Rees, director of the critically-acclaimed Mudbound, Patty Jenkins, who directed Wonder Woman, the highest grossing live action film directed by a woman ever, and Greta Gerwig, director of Lady Bird.

People are particularly upset about Gerwig’s rejection from the list. Lady Bird was her directorial debut and has been called one of the best films of the year, breaking the record for the best-reviewed film on Rotten Tomatoes. It did at least receive a nomination for best screenplay, which is something.

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Meanwhile the men who did receive Best Director nominations could best be described as the usual suspects, and include: Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water), Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk), Ridley Scott (All The Money in the World), and Steven Spielberg (The Post).

The Globes have also received criticism for the lack of recognition for horror film Get Out, which was not only placed in the musical/comedy category, but whose director Jordan Peele was also passed over for a nomination. It hasn’t been lost on people that the Best Director category has excluded both women and people of colour.

If we weren’t already fairly sure that Hollywood has a massive problem with diversity and sexism, as repeatedly and horrifically explained through this year’s Harvey Weinstein scandal and the #MeToo campaign, this year’s Golden Globes provide a perfect example. In its 75 year history, only five women have been nominated for the Best Director category, with only one winner — Barbara Streisand for Yentl in 1984.

Meanwhile, there was at least some good news for Australians. Nicole Kidman was nominated for her work in Big Little Lies, Margot Robbie scored a nom for I, Tonya, Hugh Jackman has been recognised for The Greatest Showman, and Geoffrey Rush, who is fighting his own misconduct allegations, was nominated for his portrayal of Albert Einstein in Genius 

People are hopeful that the Oscar nominations will step up and correct these oversights, but in the meantime have taken to Twitter to voice their dissatisfaction with yet another Hollywood list dominated by white males.