WEEK IN WOMEN news roundup: Oprah to receive Cecil B. de Mille Award, Golden Globes shut out women directors, SAG Awards to feature all women presenters

Posted by Brandy McDonnell on Dec 17, 2017 | 0 comments

Oprah Winfrey appears in a scene from the 2018 film “A Wrinkle in Time.” Disney photo

Acclaimed actor, producer, television star and entrepreneur Oprah Winfrey will be honored with the 2018 Cecil B. de Mille Award at the 75th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 7.

Hosted by Seth Meyers, the 2018 Golden Globe Awards will air live coast-to-coast from 5 to 8 p.m. Pacific Time / 8 to 11 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC from The Beverly Hilton, Los Angeles. The news was exclusively announced by 2012 Cecil B. de Mille Award recipient Morgan Freeman during the airing of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s “Golden Globe 75th Anniversary Special” on NBC.

“The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is delighted to announce Oprah Winfrey as the recipient of the 2018 Cecil B. de Mille Award,” said Meher Tatna, president of the HFPA, in a statement. “As a global media leader, philanthropist, producer and actress, she has created an unparalleled connection with people around the world, making her one of the most respected and admired figures today. For generations, Oprah has celebrated strong female characters on and off screen, and has been a role model for women and young girls for decades. Holding titles such as Chairman, CEO and Founder, Oprah is one of the most influential women of our time, and this honor is well deserved especially in this 75th anniversary year of the Golden Globe Awards.”

Chosen by the HFPA Board of Directors, the Cecil B. de Mille Award is given annually to a talented individual who has made an incredible impact on the world of entertainment, according to a news release. Honorees over the decades have included Audrey Hepburn, Barbra Streisand, Denzel Washington, George Clooney, Harrison Ford, Jodie Foster, Lucille Ball, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Robin Williams, Sidney Poitier, Sophia Loren, Steven Spielberg, and many more.

For 25 years, Winfrey was host of the award-winning talk show “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” As chairman and CEO, she’s guiding her successful cable network, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, is the founder of O, The Oprah Magazine, and oversees Harpo Films.

Winfrey is a Golden Globe Award-nominated actress for her role in “The Color Purple,” earned critical acclaim in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” and produced and acted in the Academy Award-winning film “Selma.”  Winfrey starred in the Emmy-nominated HBO Films “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” and will portray “Mrs. Which” in Disney’s “Wrinkle in Time” film adaptation from director Ava DuVernay releasing in March 2018.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa as they celebrate the school’s seventh graduating class. Winfrey established the school in 2007 to provide education for academically gifted girls from disadvantaged backgrounds. Graduates of the school have continued on to higher education both in South Africa and at colleges and universities around the world.

Star Saoirse Ronan, left, and writer-director Greta Gerwig appear on the set of “Lady Bird.” A24 photo

Golden Globes shut out women directors

Oprah’s big honor at the Golden Globes does little the ease the sting of a big snub: No women filmmakers were on the list of best director nominees when the HFPA unveiled the nominations last week.

Although Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut “Lady Bird” snagged a nomination for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Gerwig earned a nod for Best Screenplay – Motion Picture, the absence of any women in the best director category seemed like a particular slight this year considering the critical success of not only “Lady Bird” but also Patty Jenkins’ blockbuster “Wonder Woman” and Dee Rees’ drama “Mudbound.”

Instead, the HFPA nominated for best director Martin McDonagh for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Christopher Nolan for “Dunkirk,” Ridley Scott for “All the Money in the World,” Steven Spielberg for “The Post” and Guillermo del Toro “The Shape of Water,” which snagged the most Globes nominations overall with seven nods. Spielberg has previously won Globes for directing “Saving Private Ryan” and “Schindler’s List.”

As Variety notes, The only female director to have won a Golden Globe is Barbra Streisand, for “Yentl” in 1984. Past woman nominees have included Kathryn Bigelow, Sofia Coppola and Ava DuVernay.

In the film categories, there are some bright spots for women directors: Angelina Jolie’s Cambodian genocide drama “First They Killed My Father” is nominated for best foreign film. In the best animated film category, “The Breadwinner,” which Jolie produced and Nora Twomey directed, is nominated, along with “Loving Vincent,” directed by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman.

On the television side, stories about women were basking in a bigger share of the spotlight. As the Los Angeles Times reports, HBO’s “Big Little Lies,” which as previously reported has been renewed for a second season, leads the field of TV nominees with six, and shows like FX’s “Feud: Bette and Joan” and Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” also earned nods.

“We are all aware of how rare it is for a show and its cast to be honored in such a huge way, and we are all incredibly grateful,” said Nicole Kidman, one of the show’s Emmy-winning stars and executive producers, in a statement.

“The character Celeste is so precious to me and the recognition is deeply appreciated.”

To see the full list of Golden Globe nominees, click here.

Frances McDormand stars in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” Fox Searchlight photo

‘Three Billboards,’ ‘Big Little Lies’ lead SAG nominations

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” writer-director Martin McDonagh’s searing drama about an angrily grieving mother who boldly challenges the local police to find her daughter’s killer, leads the nominations for the 24th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which were announced last week.

The film garnered four nominations, including outstanding performance by a cast (the SAG Awards equivalent of best picture) and individual acting nods for Frances McDormand, who plays the mourning mother; Woody Harrelson, who plays the sheriff in her small hometown; and Sam Rockwell, who plays the hotheaded deputy assigned the murder case.

Greta Gerwig’s coming-of-age story “Lady Bird” followed with two nominations, for best cast and for best actress for Saoirse Ronan, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

On the TV side, there’s more good news for “Big Little Lies,” which nabbed four nominations, including nods for stars Laura Dern, Nicole Kidman, Alexander Skarsgard and Reese Witherspoon. “Stranger Things” and “GLOW” also each snagged four nominations, including stunt ensemble nods.

SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris, SAG Awards Committee Chair JoBeth Williams, Committee Member Elizabeth McLaughlin, Olivia Munn (“X-Men: Apocalypse,” “The Predator”) and Niecy Nash (“Claws,” “The Soul Man”), announced the nominees for this year’s Actors Wednesday.

To see the full list of SAG Awards nominations, click here.

Kristen Bell, star of the critically acclaimed TV series “The Good Place,” will be the first host of the Screen Actors Guild Awards. NBC photo

SAG Awards to have all women presenters, plus woman host

The 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS at 8 p.m. Eastern Time / 5 p.m. Pacific Time Sunday, Jan. 21.

According to Entertainment Tonight, the ceremony will have only women presenting 13 of the categories.

“I feel pretty strongly about the women’s movement,” Kathy Connell, SAG Awards executive producer, told The New York Times of the decision. “Women stepped forward in such a huge way in this last year.”

She added, “I want to salute women who are coming forward to speak at a very difficult time about very difficult subjects at great risk to themselves.”

In addition to having an all-female slate of presenters, Kristen Bell will be the SAG Awards’ first host.

“The fact that a female was chosen to be the first one means my genitals become irrelevant,” she quipped to the Times in a phone interview.

“An awards show is not as serious as the conversation deserves to be,” she added. “And this night will celebrate women more than any other SAG Awards has, and possibly more than any other awards show has.”

-BAM