Film students reflect on lack of female directorial nominees

With another Academy Awards season over- looking female direc- tors, Dodge students look at the future of the lm industry and their potential success

Zara Kaye, a junior creative producing major, spoke to The Panther about the lack of female directorial nominees at the Academy Awards. “There’s been so much female led content this year that has been swept under a rug,” she said.

There are always a few Oscar snubs each year, some more promi- nent than others. Many people were shocked when Jennifer Aniston wasn’t nominated for her role in “Cake” in 2014. Indie- lm lovers were devastated when Timothee Chalamet wasn’t nominated for his 2017 performance in “Beautiful Boy” and some objected when Bradley Cooper wasn’t on the director’s nominee list for his take on “A Star is Born.”

The 92nd annual Oscars took place Feb. 9, and was not without conversations about snubs. But this year’s overlooked filmmakers hit one gender, and one category, particularly hard: no females were nominated for Best Director.

“I was not surprised by the list,” said Jennifer Losch, a junior lm production major. “ ere were a few lms that I felt got snubbed, but seeing the history of the Oscars and what gets nominated and what doesn’t, I wasn’t shocked. I was just disappointed.”

No female directors were nominated this year despite the success of various female directors, like Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”), Lulu Wang (“ e Farewell”) and Lorene Scafaria (“Hustlers”).

“‘Little Women’ is nominated for literally everything else,” said Zara Kaye, a junior creative producing major. “I don’t know how it could be nominated for Best Film and Best Screenplay and not be nominated for Best Director. There’s been so much female led content this year that has been swept under a rug.”

Gerwig’s “Little Women” is nominated for six different categories, including Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture.

“It’s great to see so many female led projects,” said Kaye in regards to eight of the nine best picture nomi- nees having at least one woman pro- ducer. “Although there haven’t been any female directors nominated, the heads of production are still being nominated for films.”

In all of the Academy’s history, only ve women have ever been nominated for Best Director.

“Th e first reaction is disappointment, but the last option is to give the situation power,” said Chloe Aguirre, a senior lm production major. “So rather than feeling down and focusing on negative aspects I like to try and look at the glass as half-full. is isn’t the last round of Oscar nominations. ere’s always another year, another chance that times will change, and I know it will change.”

This is the second year in a row that no female directors have been nominated.

“I feel like, in today’s society, this shouldn’t be an issue anymore, yet it comes up every year,” Losch said. “ e industry itself has started to change. As a whole more women lmmakers are emerging and being successful, but the Academy hasn’t been reorganized.”

This year’s nominees included Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman”), Todd Phillips (“The Joker”), Sam Mendes (“1917”) Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), and Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”). 

“This is an elite group of five or six males year after year that are telling stories that are supposed to represent the entire world and that's not what we're seeing,” said Becca Standt, a junior film production major.  “We are seeing predominantly white male stories. There's a lot of room for improvement and hopefully that's where we are headed and that's what I plan to devote my life to.”