The nominations for Best Director at the 95th Academy Awards continue a disappointing trend from years gone by. January 24, 2023 saw the nominations for 2023's Oscars announced by previous Best Actor nominee Riz Ahmed and M3GAN's Allison Williams, which highlighted the likes of Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Banshees of Inisherin, and All Quiet on the Western Front as the front-runners for the biggest award ceremony of the year. While the Oscars celebrate all aspects of film, the Best Director category is one of the most coveted awards, but 2023's shortlist of directors highlight a disappointing and unfortunate trend returning to the Academy Awards.
For the 95th Academy Awards, five acclaimed directors have been nominated to take home the coveted trophy. The category consists of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Schienerts (the "Daniels") for Everything Everywhere All at Once, Todd Field for Tár, Martin McDonagh for The Banshees of Inisherin, Ruben Östlund for Triangle of Sadness, and Steven Spielberg for The Fabelmans. Triangle of Sadness has been one of the biggest surprises of the Oscars nominations, but each of the five films and directors recognized in the categories were some of the biggest hits of 2022. Even so, these nominations for Best Director bring attention back to one of the less-favorable aspects of Hollywood.
2023's Best Director Oscar Nominees Are All Male
The previous two years have seen female directors take the award for Best Director: Chloé Zhao for Nomadland in 2021, and Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog in 2022 during a ceremony that saw CODA win Best Picture, but it seems the Academy is falling back into old habits. The Academy has come under huge scrutiny in recent years as more attention is brought to the issue of representation in Hollywood, so the lack of female directors could be seen as a step backward. There's no doubt that the nominated directors are legendary talents, but it's a shame that many talented women have to miss out.
Over the Academy Awards' long history, only seven women have ever been nominated for Best Director, including Lina Wertmüller for Seven Beauties, Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation, Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker, Greta Gerwig for Lady Bird, Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman, Zhao for Nomadland, and Campion for The Piano and The Power of the Dog. Bigelow won the award for Best Director in 2010, and Zhao and Campion took home the award in 2021 and 2022, respectively, with Campion being the only female director nominated twice, but no female director will get the chance for the award in 2023.
2023's Oscars Prove Equality Is A Work In Progress
It must be difficult to change the landscape of an entire culture, especially one as massive and far-reaching as Hollywood, and though great steps have been made toward equality, this is a work in progress. Recent years have seen more women and people of color nominated at the Oscars than ever before, but much more work needs to be done so that everyone gets a chance to be celebrated for their remarkable efforts. Stellar directors such as Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King), Sarah Polley (Women Talking), and Charlotte Wells (Aftersun) unfortunately won't see the recognition they deserve at 2023's Oscars ceremony, set to air on March 12, 2023.