For the first time in Oscars history, more than one filmmaker was nominated for an Oscar for best director in a single year.
On Monday, Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) and Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”) received nominations alongside Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”), David Fincher (“Mank”) and Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”). The honor is also remarkable because women are rarely represented in the category: Before this year, only five women filmmakers had been recognized.
Zhao was the first Asian woman to win Best Director at the Golden Globes in February when Nomadland, the story of a widow who joins the country’s migrant labor, also picked up best in the Drama category. The film is a strong contender for best picture at the 93rd Oscars on April 25th.
“Promising Young Woman,” about seeking revenge after raping a friend, was nominated for four Golden Globes, including Best Director and Best Picture. In the end, it was ruled out.
“Nomadland” received almost universal reviews, and New York Times co-chief film critic AO Scott praised Zhao’s attention “for the interplay of human emotion and geography, for the way space, light and wind reveal character “.
Promising Woman received more mixed reception, although USA Today’s Brian Truitt characterized Fennell, who also wrote the script, as “a stunning new voice in the movie with a cunning heroine who cannot be adored.”
If either Zhao or Fennell won, they would only be the second woman to be named Best Director – and the first in more than a decade. In 2010 Kathryn Bigelow won for her Iraq war film “The Hurt Locker”. Next year, Zhao may also have the chance to become the first female director to be nominated twice – she’s directing the Marvel superhero film Eternals, currently slated for release in November.
The other women who were nominated are Lina Wertmüller (1977 for “Seven Beauties”), Jane Campion (“The Piano”, 1994), Sofia Coppola (“Lost in Translation”, 2004) and Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird, “). ”2018).
