It looks like it’s time to call on Natalie Portman to present the best director award at the Golden Globes again. Somebody needs to shade the Hollywood Foreign Press Association again. Here’s who got nominated this morning:
- Bong Joon Ho, Parasite
- Sam Mendes, 1917
- Todd Philips, Joker
- Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
- Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time....in Hollywood
None of the 10 nominated films in the Drama and Musical/Comedy were directed by a woman. Only in the foreign film category did female directors make an impact...
Both Lulu Wang's The Farewell and Celine Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire were among the nominees. When asked by Variety after the nominations were announced about these omissions, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association president Lorenzo Soria only had this lame response
“What happened is that we don’t vote by gender. We vote by film and accomplishment.”
So they didn’t think that any of the films and accomplishments of Marielle Heller, Lorene Scafaria and Greta Gerwig worthy despite nominating actors (Tom Hanks, Jennifer Lopez and Saoirse Ronan respectively) from their films? They didn’t think Sciamma or Mati Diop (Atlantics) were worthy despite winning awards at this year’s Cannes? Could not find space for Alma Har’el or Chinonye Chukwu when their work was recognized by the Indie Spirit Awards? They had lots of choices and chose to ignore them all. A good take comes from USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative founder Stacy Smith who told The Wrap:
“The real concern is, when you have an ecosystem that’s starting to change and a governing body that doesn’t, it really thwarts the effort of the entire ecosystem striving to reflect the world that we live in. We’re far from proportional representation, but we’re starting to see change, and this thwarts that progress. It continues to perpetuate a lopsided view of talent that fosters the longevity of male directors over their female peers.”
Let's give one of the directors who did stellar work this year the final word. Here's Har’el.......
Lulu Wang
— Alma Har'el🌪 (@Almaharel) December 9, 2019
Mati Diop
Greta Gerwig
Olivia Wilde
Lorene Scafaria
Marielle Heller
Melina Matsoukas
Chinonye Chukwu
Céline Sciamma
Made films this year that reached people and touched them.
That’s our awards.
No one can take that away.