Beverly Hills(California): Yet again, the Academy have produced an all-male best director shortlist. Here are some of the incredible women directors that could – and should – have broken up the boys’ club.
The most memorable single moment of yesterday’s Oscar nominations came not from any single inclusion or exclusion, but from presenter Issa Rae’s deliciously pointed statement “congratulations to those men” on introducing the Best Director shortlist. Yes, that’s right, yet again, for the 87th time in the Oscars’ 92-year history, no space could be found in the category for a single woman – a fact all the more egregious when you consider the depth and breadth of films directed by women this year. So, as a correction to this, here’s our list of this year’s great female directors, any of whom more than merited a nod:
Waad Al-Kateab, For Samadd:
This documentary about the horrors of the Syrian civil war has rightly been getting a good spread of awards recognition, receiving four Bafta nominations – the most ever for a documentary – as well as an Oscar nod in that category. But frankly, the achievement of its co-director Al-Kateab is so extraordinary that she deserves even greater credit. For those who don’t know: Al-Kateab was a student living in Aleppo as it became a chief battleground in the war, who filmed her experiences over five years, as a nascent journalist, the wife of a doctor running a volunteer hospital, and the mother of a young daughter. The film that emerges from her footage (assembled and edited with her co-director Edward Watts) depicts the effects of war with unparalleled detail and nuance, and leaves you marvelling equally at Al-Kateab’s bravery and self-taught skill. Direction simply doesn’t get more vital than this. (Hugh Montgomery).
Claire Denis, High Life:
It was excellent (if expected) to see South Korea’s Bong Joon Ho among the best director nominees for the exquisite social horror Parasite, but we would have loved to have seen another magisterially strange non-US auteur in contention: that French cinematic legend Claire Denis, whose first English-language film was an especially twisted take on the space movie about a vessel of prisoners on a journey into a black hole. Unsurprisingly, given its maverick creator, it eschews the usual cod-spiritual cliches for a fascinating corporeality that includes Juliette Binoche as a breeding-fixated doctor, and a lot of bodily fluids. One can only hope we get a Denis spin on more mainstream movie genres. (HM).
Greta Gerwig, Little Women:
Ignoring Gerwig’s direction of this stunning film is the most baffling and outrageous omission this year. Her bold restructuring of the classic novel is timely in its feminist undercurrent, emotionally real thanks to its richly played characters (at least Saoirse Ronan and Florence Pugh got nominations), and visually beautiful in every frame. It’s even a commercial hit, earning more than $100m (£77m) globally so far. The film is up for best picture and Gerwig was nominated for adapted screenplay (often the consolation-prize category). What more do Oscars voters want? Giving Todd Phillips a director’s nod for Joker instead of Gerwig just shrieks ‘Boys Club’. As she demonstrated with Lady Bird, Gerwig is an amazingly self-assured filmmaker, so she’ll be fine. The snub suggests that Hollywood is not. (Caryn James).
(Courtesy BBC)
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