It’s no secret that the Oscars have a diversity problem.听In nearly 100 years, only听four Black actors have won Best Actor and only one Black woman has won Best Actress.
In recent years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has tried to expand its membership to include more women and people of color, which may explain Best Picture wins by “12 Years a Slave” (2013), “Moonlight” (2016) and “Parasite” (2019).
However, Monday听added new fuel to #OscarsSoWhite by snubbing Black ensembles “One Night in Miami,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Da 5 Bloods” for Best Picture.
Others cited historic inclusion with three out of five Best Actor nominees being people of color, including Chadwick Boseman as the posthumous favorite, Riz Ahmed as the category’s first ever Muslim, and Steven Yeun as the category’s first Asian American.
Every year, there are such silver linings in various categories, but year over year, one category has consistently shown the most signs of progress: Best Director.
Since the Coen Brothers won for 鈥淣o Country for Old Men鈥� (2007), only one white American male has won Best Director since 鈥� Damien Chazelle for 鈥淟a La Land鈥� (2016), though Barry Jenkins鈥� 鈥淢oonlight鈥� famously triumphed for Best Picture.
Other than that, the Best Director category has mostly hailed international people of color for an immigrant success story that exemplifies the American Dream:
2019: Bong Joon-ho (鈥淧arasite鈥�) – Korean
2018: Alfonso Cuar贸n (鈥淩oma鈥�) – Mexican
2017: Guillermo del Toro (鈥淭he Shape of Water鈥�) – Mexican
2016: Damien Chazelle (鈥淟a La Land鈥�) – American
2015: Alejandro G. I帽谩rritu (鈥淭he Revenant鈥�) – Mexican
2014: Alejandro G. I帽谩rritu (鈥淏irdman鈥�) – Mexican
2013: Alfonso Cuar贸n (鈥淕ravity鈥�) – Mexican
2012: Ang Lee (鈥淟ife of Pi鈥�) – Taiwanese
2011: Michel Hazanavicius (鈥淭he Artist鈥�) – French
2010: Tom Hooper (鈥淭he King鈥檚 Speech鈥�) – British
2009: Kathryn Bigelow (鈥淭he Hurt Locker鈥�) – American
2008: Danny Boyle (鈥淪lumdog Millionaire鈥�) – British听
That’s right, in 11 of the past 12 years, Best Director has gone to someone other than a white American male, a streak that should extend to 12 out of 13 years next month.
That’s because only one white American male is up for Best Director as David Fincher (“Mank”) joins Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”), Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”), Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”) and Chlo茅 Zhao (“Nomadland”), who is poised to become the second Asian in a row and the second woman ever to win.
Before yesterday, 93 years of Oscar history only nominated five women directors: Lina Wertm眉ller (鈥淪even Beauties”), Jane Campion (鈥淭he Piano”), Sofia Coppola (鈥淟ost in Translation”), Kathryn Bigelow (鈥淭he Hurt Locker”) and Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird”).
That jumped 40 percent yesterday when the Academy nominated two women for the first time ever in Fennell and Zhao. It could have conceivably nominated four, but Kelly Reichardt (“First Cow”) and Regina King (“One Night in Miami”) were sadly snubbed.
While these racial and gender trends are positive, it doesn’t mean we’re in a post-racial society nor does it erase the sting of historic snubs, namely that a Black director has still never won, not Spike Lee (“Do the Right Thing”), not John Singleton (“Boyz N the Hood”), not Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”), not Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”).
Still, let’s salute the progress, knowing we’ve come a long way with a long way to go.
