After failing to nominate any female directors last year — and on the heels of Jane Campion’s record-breaking win for her “The Power of the Dog” in 2022, which marked her as only the third woman to ever win the Oscar for Best Director, following Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) and Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) — this year’s Oscar nominations have again returned to the land of just one female nominee.
That might not surprise anyone familiar with the org’s history of nominations in this particular category (read: slim), but this morning’s nomination pool did pack at least one surprise: “Barbie” filmmaker (and previous nominee in the category) Greta Gerwig failed to notch a nom, while “Anatomy of a Fall” filmmaker Justine Triet was nominated for the first time in the category.
While both films have proven to be awards juggernauts over the past few months, recent chatter seemed to favor Triet in the category (again, as always, how sad that even in conversation, the assumption remains that there is only one spot for a woman in this category), who previously won the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, making her only the third woman to notch that award (alongside Campion and Julia Ducournau).
Both films were also nominated in the Best Picture category (which is awarded to a film‘s producers, not its director). Alongside Celine Song’s “Past Lives,” which was also nominated for the Oscars‘ top honor, this morning’s nominations broke a record for most films directed by women to be nominated for Best Picture. (Also of note: with this Best Picture nomination, Gerwig has now become the first director ever to have their first three solo directorial films be nominated for Best Picture, including also “Lady Bird” and “Little Women”).
All three filmmakers were also nominated in their respective writing categories (Gerwig alongside Noah Baumbach in Best Adapted Screenplay, with Song and Triet alongside Arthur Harari in Best Original Screenplay).
In the Academy Awards’ 96-year history, only eight women total have ever been nominated for Best Director: Lina Wertmüller (1976′s “Seven Beauties”), Sofia Coppola (2003′s “Lost in Translation”), Greta Gerwig (2017′s “Lady Bird”), Emerald Fennell (2020’s “Promising Young Woman”), Bigelow, Zhao, Campion, and now Triet. “The Power of the Dog” filmmaker is also the only woman nominated twice for the honor.
2020 marked the first time the Academy handed out nominations to two women in the category, with Zhao going on to win both Best Director (making her just the second woman to win the award, after Bigelow) and Best Picture for her “Nomadland,” while Fennell took home the statuette for Best Original Screenplay.
Elsewhere in the 2024 nominations pool, female filmmakers were shut out of both the Best International Feature Film race (where they tend to notch a couple of noms) and Best Animated Feature categories, while female directed-films were the majority in the Best Documentary category (including Maite Alberdi’s “The Eternal Memory,” Kaouther Ben Hania’s “Four Daughters,” and Nisha Pahuja’s “To Kill a Tiger”).
On the writing side, beyond Gerwig, Triet, and Song’s nominations in their respective categories, Samy Burch was also nominated alongside Alex Mechanik for their “May December” in Best Original Screenplay, the lone other female writer to earn a nod.
Nominations voting for this year’s Oscars took place January 11 – 16, 2024. Final voting will take place from February 22 – 27, 2024. And finally, the 96th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 10, and air live on ABC. Jimmy Kimmel is set to return as the host for the fourth time, having previously helmed the event in 2023, 2018, and 2017.
Check out the full list of this morning’s nominations right here:
Best Picture
“American Fiction,” Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson and Jermaine Johnson, producers
“Anatomy of a Fall,” Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion, producers
“Barbie,” David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, producers
“The Holdovers,” Mark Johnson, producer
“Killers of the Flower Moon,” Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese and Daniel Lupi, producers
“Maestro,” Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger, producers
“Oppenheimer,” Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, producers
“Past Lives,” David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, producers
“Poor Things,” Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, producers
“The Zone of Interest,” James Wilson, producer
Best Director
Justine Triet — “Anatomy of a Fall”
Martin Scorsese — “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Christopher Nolan — “Oppenheimer”
Yorgos Lanthimos — “Poor Things”
Jonathan Glazer — “The Zone of Interest”
Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper — “Maestro”
Colman Domingo — “Rustin”
Paul Giamatti — “The Holdovers”
Cillian Murphy — “Oppenheimer”
Jeffrey Wright — “American Fiction”
Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening — “Nyad”
Lily Gladstone — “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Sandra Hüller — “Anatomy of a Fall”
Carey Mulligan — “Maestro”
Emma Stone — “Poor Things”
Actor in a Supporting Role
Sterling K. Brown — “American Fiction”
Robert De Niro – “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Robert Downey Jr. — “Oppenheimer”
Ryan Gosling — “Barbie”
Mark Ruffalo — “Poor Things”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Emily Blunt — “Oppenheimer”
Danielle Brooks — “The Color Purple”
America Ferrera – “Barbie”
Jodie Foster — “Nyad”
Da’Vine Joy Randolph — “The Holdovers”
Adapted Screenplay
“American Fiction,” written for the screen by Cord Jefferson
“Barbie,” written by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach
“Oppenheimer,” written for the screen by Christopher Nolan
“Poor Things,” screenplay by Tony McNamara
“The Zone of Interest,” written by Jonathan Glazer
Original Screenplay
“Anatomy of a Fall,” screenplay by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari
“The Holdovers,” written by David Hemingson
“Maestro,” written by Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer
“May December,” screenplay by Samy Burch; story by Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik
“Past Lives,” written by Celine Song
Cinematography
“El Conde” – Edward Lachman
“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Rodrigo Prieto
“Maestro” – Matthew Libatique
“Oppenheimer” – Hoyte van Hoytema
“Poor Things” – Robbie Ryan
Original Song
“The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot,” music and lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie,” music and lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
“It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony,” music and lyric by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson
“Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” from “Killers of the Flower Moon,” music and lyric by Scott George
“What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie,” music and lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
Costume Design
“Barbie” – Jacqueline Durran
“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Jacqueline West
“Napoleon” – Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
“Oppenheimer” – Ellen Mirojnick
“Poor Things” – Holly Waddington
Sound
“The Creator,” Ian Voigt, Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic
“Maestro,” Steven A. Morrow, Richard King, Jason Ruder, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic
“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” Chris Munro, James H. Mather, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor
“Oppenheimer,” Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O’Connell
“The Zone of Interest,” Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn
Original Score
“American Fiction” – Laura Karpman
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” John Williams
“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Robbie Robertson
“Oppenheimer” – Ludwig Göransson
“Poor Things” – Jerskin Fendrix
Live Action Short Film
“The After,” Misan Harriman and Nicky Bentham
“Invincible,” Vincent René-Lortie and Samuel Caron
“Knight of Fortune,” Lasse Lyskjær Noer and Christian Norlyk
“Red, White and Blue,” Nazrin Choudhury and Sara McFarlane
“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” Wes Anderson and Steven Rales
Animated Short Film
“Letter to a Pig,” Tal Kantor and Amit R. Gicelter
“Ninety-Five Senses,” Jerusha Hess and Jared Hess
“Our Uniform,” Yegane Moghaddam
“Pachyderme,” Stéphanie Clément and Marc Rius
“War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko,” Dave Mullins and Brad Booker
Documentary Feature Film
“Bobi Wine: The People’s President,” Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp and John Battsek
“The Eternal Memory”
“Four Daughters,” Kaouther Ben Hania and Nadim Cheikhrouha
“To Kill a Tiger,” Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe and David Oppenheim
“20 Days in Mariupol,” Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath
Documentary Short Film
“The ABCs of Book Banning,” Sheila Nevins and Trish Adlesic
“The Barber of Little Rock,” John Hoffman and Christine Turner
“Island in Between,” S. Leo Chiang and Jean Tsien
“The Last Repair Shop,” Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
“Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó,” Sean Wang and Sam Davis
International Feature Film
“Io Capitano” (Italy)
“Perfect Days” (Japan)
“Society of the Snow” (Spain)
“The Teachers’ Lounge” (Germany)
“The Zone of Interest” (United Kingdom)
Animated Feature Film
“The Boy and the Heron,” Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki
“Elemental,” Peter Sohn and Denise Ream
“Nimona,” Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary
“Robot Dreams,” Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal
Makeup and Hairstyling
“Golda,” Karen Hartley Thomas, Suzi Battersby and Ashra Kelly-Blue
“Maestro,” Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou and Lori McCoy-Bell
“Oppenheimer,” Luisa Abel
“Poor Things,” Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston
“Society of the Snow,” Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí and Montse Ribé
Production Design
“Barbie,” production design: Sarah Greenwood; set decoration: Katie Spencer
“Killers of the Flower Moon,” production design: Jack Fisk; set decoration: Adam Willis
“Napoleon,” production design: Arthur Max; set decoration: Elli Griff
“Oppenheimer,” production design: Ruth De Jong; set decoration: Claire Kaufman
“Poor Things,” production design: James Price and Shona Heath; set decoration: Zsuzsa Mihalek
Film Editing
“Anatomy of a Fall” – Laurent Sénéchal
“The Holdovers” – Kevin Tent
“Killers of the Flower Moon” – Thelma Schoonmaker
“Oppenheimer” – Jennifer Lame
“Poor Things” – Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Visual Effects
“The Creator,” Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould
“Godzilla Minus One,” Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek
“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould
“Napoleon,” Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco and Neil Corbould
SOURCE: IndieWire
