On February 28th, Chloé Zhao took home a Golden Globe for Best Director, becoming the second woman to receive this award. Zhao’s victory demonstrates a long-awaited step forward for female representation in the film industry; a woman has not been named Best Director at the Golden Globes since Barbara Streisand accepted the trophy in 1984.
Zhao’s monumental win was not the only triumph for female filmmakers at this year’s ceremony: along with Zhao (Nomadland), Regina King (One Night in Miami) and Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) were also nominees for Best Director, breaking the record for the number of women competing in this particular category. In previous years, only five women total - and no more than one woman in a single year - had ever received nominations for this prestigious award.
The 2021 awards season has already made history - and it’s not over yet, with the Oscars scheduled for April 25th. Thus far, Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) is the only woman who has won Best Director at the Academy Awards; the 93rd ceremony could change this. Announced on March 15th, the Best Director nominees once again broke records, recognizing two women: Zhao and Fennell. Like the Golden Globes, this is the first time this category’s nominees have included more than one female filmmaker. Zhao also became the first Asian woman to be nominated for the award.
Additionally, with nominations for Best Director, Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing, Zhao is the first female filmmaker to receive Oscar nominations in four categories. Overall, the Academy nominated 70 women for a total of 76 nominations, breaking yet another record.
Through the years, these ceremonies have received criticism for continuously failing to represent deserving filmmakers, with much speculation that gender and race have something to do with this lack of recognition. At this year’s Golden Globes, Bryce Dallas Howard commented on the number of female nominees while presenting the award for Best Director: “may there be many, many more.” In 2018, Natalie Portman brought attention to the lack of female representation by congratulating the “all-male nominees” of the Best Director category.
Fans and fellow filmmakers often accuse the Oscars and Golden Globes of snubbing female directors. For instance, this year, many believe that Regina King deserved an Oscar nomination for her direction of One Night in Miami, but the Academy did not give her one. In 2018, the Golden Globes failed to recognize Greta Gerwig for directing Lady Bird, which won Best Motion Picture in the musical or comedy category; furthermore, neither ceremony included Gerwig in the Best Director category for her 2019 remake of Little Women.
Despite the progress made by the 2021 awards season, the film industry still has a long way to go when it comes to representation. Unfortunately, both women and minority groups continue to face obvious discrimination. Before this year’s ceremony, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association - the organization of journalists that determine the recipients of Golden Globes - received condemnation for their lack of diversity; the Los Angeles Times reported that the 87-member organization has not included any black members for almost two decades. The Association responded by announcing a plan to reach a minimum of 100 members, with at least 13% of them being black journalists. While the organization took this one step to increase its diversity, many filmmakers and audiences continue to fight for further action to bring the industry closer to equal representation.
A gender imbalance is not only present in award ceremonies but also in the film industry as a whole. When journalist Miriam Quick conducted a study in 2018, about 74% of leading cast and crew members were men; excluding acting roles, men held around 82% of the major jobs in film crews. Quick’s research also reported that, at the time, only 12% of directors were female. While these percentages have changed over the past few years, the gender gap is still clear; according to San Diego University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, women filled 20% of off-camera roles on the 100 top-grossing movies of 2019.
East’s film teacher, Mr. Bonds, shared some thoughts on female representation in Hollywood.
Why do you think it’s important for students to see female filmmakers represented in Hollywood?
Seeing female filmmakers represented in Hollywood will help students see men and women as equals and help students respect women for their intelligence, creativity, and perspective.
How do you hope to encourage female students with a passion for filmmaking to pursue that interest?
I actively try to encourage as many female students to take the film analysis course and video production courses offered at EHS and to pursue film-oriented majors in college.
What is your favorite film or television show created by a female filmmaker?
My favorite film created by a female filmmaker is 13th, directed by Ava DuVernay.
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