WEEK IN WOMEN: Oscar Noms Lack Diversity, Snub Female Directors – Brandy McDonnell reports
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has faced widespread criticism for the dearth of diversity among the top nominees as well as the exclusion female filmmakers at its upcoming 92nd Annual Academy Awards to be held February 9.
Male-dominated titles dominated the Oscars field when the nominations were revealed: Todd Phillips’ R-rated smash Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix as a failed mentally ill comedian who turns to crime and eventually becomes Batman’s nemesis, nabbed a leading Oscar 11 nominations and became just the second comic-book movie nominated for best picture, following 2018’s Black Panther.
Quentin Taratino’s revisionist ode Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood boasts 10 Oscar nominations, tying it with Sam Mendes’ first-person World War I odyssey 1917 as well as Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic The Irishman.
The nine best picture nominees this year are Joker, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, The Irishman, 1917, Ford v Ferrari, Jojo Rabbit, Little Women, Marriage Story and Parasite. The male directors of The Irishman, Joker, 1917, Once Upon A Time…in Hollywood and Parasite were nominated, but Little Women helmer, Greta Gerwig, was snubbed.
In the four acting categories, only one performer of color is nominated: Cynthia Erivo for her portray of former slave and abolitionist Harriet Tubman in Harriet.
Performers such as Alfre Woodard for Clemency, Jennifer Lopez for Hustlers, Eddie Murphy for Dolemite Is My Name, previous Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx for Just Mercy, previous Oscar victor Lupita Nyong’o for Us and Golden Globe winner Awkwafina for The Farewell were all considered possible contenders but were snubbed. Continue reading on THE WEEK IN WOMEN.
