Are they the most deserving? 2019 was a BIG year for female directors and it’s hard to believe that not a single one of them deserves to have their names on the nominees list.
Charlize Theron spoke out about the issue in an interview with the Los Angeles Times (she has been nominated for her work in Bombshell), saying that the lack of nominations for female directors is “really, really ridiculous.”
“They represent 10% of our directors in the industry, and when you have a good year like we had this year with such great work, it is incredibly frustrating. No woman wants to get nominated because it’s the right thing to do. It’s really, really ridiculous. It’s not cool. It’s really hard, and I think it’s unfair, and it’s why we can’t stop this fight. We gotta keep making noise until we’re heard and these stories get recognized.”
Hollywood Foreign Press Association president Lorenzo Soria spoke to Variety to defend the nominations. “What happened is that we don’t vote by gender. We vote by film and accomplishment,” he said.
Honey Boy director Alma Ha’rel was fuming over the lack of female directors being recognised and took to Twitter to highlight some of the female directors that are deserving of the Best Director award:
“Good morning to everyone that’s writing me about the #goldenglobes. I feel you but know this. I was on the inside for the first time this year. These are not our people and they do not represent us. Do not look for justice in the awards system. We are building a new world,” she tweeted.
Then she included a list of filmmakers that “made films this year that reached people and touched them” but were unjustly ignored by the Globes: Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Mati Diop (Atlantics), Greta Gerwig (Little Woman), Olivia Wilde (Booksmart), Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers), Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Melina Matsoukas (Queen and Slim), Chinonye Chukwu (Clemency - the first feature directed by a Black woman to receive the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance), and Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire, which won Best Screenplay at Cannes).
Ha’rel herself deserves to be in the mix, too.
“That’s our awards. No one can take that away,” added Ha’rel.
She then urged her followers to “keep fighting for more women & POC behind the camera by supporting their films”.
“Don’t make your end game the political money that trades hands in the form of movie campaigns for people who can’t see us and recognize us,” she added.
