Zero Female Directors Nominated at the BAFTAs This Year
Days after Time’s Up rocked the Golden Globes, nominations for the British Academy Film Awards have ..
Days after Time’s Up rocked the Golden Globes, nominations for the British Academy Film Awards have arrived—and the best-director category is, once again, all-male. The Globes, too, were criticized for a similar lack of female directors, particularly by Natalie Portman—who decided to point out the disparity on stage, much to the surprise of her presenting partner, Ron Howard.
This year, the BAFTAs nominated Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049), Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water), Luca Guadagnino (Call Me by Your Name), Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk), and Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri). Last year’s directing category was also all-male.
Directors like Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird), Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), and Dee Rees (Mudbound) were shut out, as was Jordan Peele, whose film, Get Out, has already been lionized as a modern horror classic. Lady Bird and Get Out were also snubbed in the best-film category, which instead includes other awards-season front-runners like C.M.B.Y.N.,Darkest Hour,Dunkirk,The Shape of Water, and Three Billboards. However, both Peele and Gerwig were nominated in the best-original-screenplay category, alongside del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, McDonagh, and Steven Rogers (I, Tonya).
The lead-actress category doesn’t contain many surprises, nominating all the usual suspects: Saoirse Ronan (also of Lady Bird), Frances McDormand,Margot Robbie, and Sally Hawkins.Annette Bening also got a surprise nod for Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, as did her co-star Jamie Bell in the lead-actor category. The supporting-actor categories also have a few pleasant departures: Lesley Manville received her first high-profile nod for Phantom Thread, while Christopher Plummer was again nominated for his hasty but necessary role in All the Money in the World. In addition, both Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson were nominated for their roles in Three Billboards. The film, which has become controversial because of the way it handles race, has also been on an awards-season high lately, scooping up four Golden Globes on Sunday and continuing its march ahead as a strong Oscar contender.
Angelina Jolie’s Cambodian drama, First They Killed My Father, was nominated in the best-foreign-film category, as was Paul Verhoeven’sElle, which raced through the stateside awards season last year.
This year’s awards ceremony will be hosted by Ab Fab star Joanna Lumley. She’s taking the reins from Stephen Fry, the witty comedian who’s hosted the show 12 times.
“Who would have thought I would turn into Stephen Fry?” Lumley previously joked about the gig, calling the opportunity “so unbelievably thrilling.” The BAFTAs will take place on Feb. 18. The full nominations list can be found here.
Get Vanity Fair’s HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Full ScreenPhotos:An Intimate Look Inside the 2018 Golden GlobesYohana DestaYohana Desta is a Hollywood writer for VanityFair.com.
