We all knew it was going to happen. The Best director race this year was not going to be female-centric. Yes, Chloé Zhao’s “The Rider,” Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace,” Lynne Ramsay’s “You Were Never Really Here,” Marielle Heller’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” and Tamara Jenkins’ “Private Life,” were noteworthy female-directed films, to name just a few, but they all got snubbed.
“Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins, told Vulture that the Academy is “still very, very limited.”
“I have no idea,” Jenkins said of the shutout, “I’ll tell you this: The Academy is working on this, but the real issue to me is that at the end of the day, no matter what movie you make and no matter how much money it makes, and no matter how diverse the audience is, the voting academy is still very, very limited. Still.”
“As hard as the Academy is working on it, the vast majority of voters, particularly for director, are people who have been successful as directors,” she said. “So who is that? That’s where this pool [of nominees] is coming from. All of these votes are being made by the same people.”
Patty, I don’t think it’s a question of the voters as much as a lack of female filmmakers when compared to male, which dominate the industry.
I wrote this a few days ago:
“Here's an undisputed fact: The studio and independent system is white-male dominated, all of this hoopla that a bunch of black and female filmmakers deserve their fair share of 2018 awards is quite simply overreaching and a form of virtue signaling on the part of film critics. The odds are heavily stacked for white male directors making the best films of the year. Rome wasn't built in a day. “
The man doesn't stop. James Gunn has confirmed he's already hard at work writing his next film, even as ‘Man of Tomorrow’ makes its way toward theaters next summer.