Natalie Portman and Barbra Streisand called out the Golden Globes for failing to recognize female directors during the ceremony on Sunday (07Jan18).
The Black Swan actress blasted the voters of the awards show, which are organized by Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), for failing to include any female directors in its Best Director category as she took to the stage at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Los Angeles to present the prize with Ron Howard.
After Ron said, “We are honored to be here to present the award for best director…”, Natalie made her point in a short but effective way, by adding, “and here are the all-male nominees.”
Her comment didn’t go unnoticed by celebrity viewers, who took to Twitter to congratulate Natalie, such as Sarah Silverman, who wrote, “Oh s**t Portman for the win!” and Shonda Rhimes, who added, “Natalie Portman calls it for what it is”, while Amber Tamblyn declared, “I’M DEAD.”
The Best Director prize went to Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water, who won over Martin McDonagh for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk), Ridley Scott (All the Money in the World), and Steven Spielberg (The Post).
The category caused controversy when the nominees were announced last year (17), as many had predicted Lady Bird’s Greta Gerwig and Mudbound’s Dee Rees would make the shortlist.
Barbra also took a stand when she presented the award of Best Motion Picture – Drama and told the audience she was the only woman to receive the Best Director award, when she took home the gong for Yentl in 1984.
“That was 34 years ago. Folks, time’s up,” she said, referring to the movement against gender inequality and sexual harassment. “We need more women directors and more women to be nominated for best director. There’s so many films out there that are so good, directed by women.”
She took to Twitter afterwards to repeat her point, and added, “In my humble opinion, I was very disappointed that director Dee Rees and her powerful film @mudboundmovie wasn’t even nominated.
“I also would have liked to see director @PattyJenks (Patty Jenkins) and her film @WonderWomanFilm recognized because it shows how strong women can be, not only as characters but also at the box office. The three highest-grossing films last year were all carried by women.”
Since 1984, the likes of Sofia Coppola, Jane Campion, Kathryn Bigelow and Ava DuVernay have been nominated for Best Director.
