Actresses Olivia Wilde and Amber Tamblyn have expressed their disappointment at the all-male Best Director nominations for the 2018 Golden Globes.
The contenders for the January (18) prizegiving were announced on Monday morning (11Dec17), and many film fans were quick to point out the Best Director shortlist failed to include any women, with Guillermo Del Toro (The Shape of Water), Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk), Ridley Scott (All the Money in the World), Steven Spielberg (The Post), and Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) taking all five spots.
Tamblyn took to Twitter to air her annoyance at the snub, insisting Greta Gerwig should have earned a mention for her directorial debut Lady Bird, which has received widespread critical acclaim and recently became the best-reviewed film on movie site RottenTomatoes.com.
“Not a single woman nominated for best director in a year when Greta Gerwig’s @LadyBirdMovie is 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes and is, hands down, one of the best directed films of the year,” she grumbled. “Not a good look, @goldenglobes.”
Ridiculous. https://t.co/ldlZOE7qQT
— olivia wilde (@oliviawilde) December 11, 2017
Wilde reposted Tamblyn’s remarks on her own Twitter page and remarked, “Ridiculous.”
Despite the lack of recognition for Gerwig as filmmaker, Lady Bird did score other nods for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Screenplay for Greta, as well as acting praise for Saoirse Ronan and her onscreen mother Laurie Metcalf.
Meanwhile, I, Tonya star Margot Robbie, who will go up against Saoirse for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, admits it’s a shame no women are shortlisted for the directing category this year, but insists the strides female filmmakers have made in 2017 shouldn’t be dismissed.
“In some ways we’ve really taken a step forward this year with women in this industry,” she tells TheWrap.com, “from Sofia Coppola winning Best Director for the first time at Cannes (Film Festival) and Wonder Woman crushing it at the box office.
“Obviously we’ve got a long way to go, but we really need to recognise and appreciate the wins along the way.”
And Kirsten Schaffer, Executive Director of female-focused non-profit Women In Film, Los Angeles, adds: “We are excited to see that Greta Gerwig’s film, Ladybird, was nominated for Best Picture, Musical or Comedy – but disappointed that Gerwig wasn’t nominated for best director. Missing from the best director list are also Dee Rees (Mudbound) and Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman). There is a surprising lack of nominations for women behind the camera – given the critical response to films written and directed by women and TV shows created by women.”
