BAFTA Awards slammed for nominating only men for Best Director for the fifth year in a row

Zack Sharf
Updated

Another awards announcement, another morning where women have been completely shut out of the Best Director race. TheBAFTAAwards are facing backlash for nominating only male filmmakers for the fifth year in a row. The last woman to be nominated for the BAFTA Best Director prize was Kathryn Bigelow for “Zero Dark Thirty” back in 2013. This year’s BAFTA nominees are Denis Villeneuve(“Blade Runner 2049”), Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me by Your Name”), Christopher Nolan (“Dunkirk”), Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”), and Martin McDonagh (“Three Billboards”).


Read More: BAFTA Award Nominations Boost Homegrown Fare, from ‘Darkest Hour’ to ‘Dunkirk’

The BAFTA Awards often favor homegrown talent, as IndieWire’s awards editor Anne Thompson noted in her analysis report, which means female-directed films such as “Wonder Woman” and “Mudbound” were always going to be a tough sell to the voting body. However, Greta Gerwig was not included in the Best Director race despite the fact that her film was clearly loved by BAFTA voters. Gerwig herself is nominated for Best Screenplay, while stars Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalfe are competing for acting trophies.

Gerwig’s omission from the race has caused a strong reaction online, with many criticizing the BAFTAs for failing to acknowledge a deserving female director. The awards are also being slammed for nominating only male-directed films for Best Film and for Best British Film.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Golden Globes faced similar backlash in December when it announced its all-male director race, excluding Gerwig, Jenkins, and Rees. Natalie Portman made headlines during the Golden Globes ceremony when she announced the Best Director category by saying, “Here are the all male nominees.”

The EE British Academy Film Awards take place on Sunday, February 18 at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

Here's the complete list of nominees:

BEST FILM

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Emilie Georges, Luca Guadagnino, Marco Morabito, Peter Spears

DARKEST HOUR Tim Bevan, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski

DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas

THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

DARKEST HOUR Joe Wright, Tim Bevan, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski

THE DEATH OF STALIN Armando Iannucci, Kevin Loader, Laurent Zeitoun, Yann Zenou, Ian Martin, David Schneider

GOD’S OWN COUNTRY Francis Lee, Manon Ardisson, Jack Tarling

LADY MACBETH William Oldroyd, Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, Alice Birch

PADDINGTON 2 Paul King, David Heyman, Simon Farnaby

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

THE GHOUL Gareth Tunley (Writer/Director/Producer), Jack Healy Guttman & Tom Meeten (Producers)

I AM NOT A WITCH Rungano Nyoni (Writer/Director), Emily Morgan (Producer)

JAWBONE Johnny Harris (Writer/Producer), Thomas Napper (Director)

KINGDOM OF US Lucy Cohen (Director)

LADY MACBETH Alice Birch (Writer), William Oldroyd (Director), Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (Producer)

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

ELLE Paul Verhoeven, Saïd Ben Saïd

FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER Angelina Jolie, Rithy Panh

THE HANDMAIDEN Park Chan-wook, Syd Lim

LOVELESS Andrey Zvyagintsev, Alexander Rodnyansky

THE SALESMAN Asghar Farhadi, Alexandre Mallet-Guy

DOCUMENTARY

CITY OF GHOSTS Matthew Heineman

I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO Raoul Peck

ICARUS Bryan Fogel, Dan Cogan

AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk

JANE Brett Morgen

ANIMATED FILM

COCO Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson

LOVING VINCENT Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Ivan Mactaggart

MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE Claude Barras, Max Karli

DIRECTOR

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Denis Villeneuve

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Luca Guadagnino

DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan

THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

GET OUT Jordan Peele

I, TONYA Steven Rogers

LADY BIRD Greta Gerwig

THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME James Ivory

THE DEATH OF STALIN Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, David Schneider

FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL Matt Greenhalgh

MOLLY’S GAME Aaron Sorkin

PADDINGTON 2 Simon Farnaby, Paul King

LEADING ACTRESS

ANNETTE BENING Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool

FRANCES McDORMAND Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

MARGOT ROBBIE I, Tonya

SALLY HAWKINS The Shape of Water

SAOIRSE RONAN Lady Bird

LEADING ACTOR

DANIEL DAY-LEWIS Phantom Thread

DANIEL KALUUYA Get Out

GARY OLDMAN Darkest Hour

JAMIE BELL Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET Call Me by Your Name

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

ALLISON JANNEY I, Tonya

KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS Darkest Hour

LAURIE METCALF Lady Bird

LESLEY MANVILLE Phantom Thread

OCTAVIA SPENCER The Shape of Water

SUPPORTING ACTOR

CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER All the Money in the World

HUGH GRANT Paddington 2

SAM ROCKWELL Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

WILLEM DAFOE The Florida Project

WOODY HARRELSON Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

ORIGINAL MUSIC

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Benjamin Wallfisch, Hans Zimmer

DARKEST HOUR Dario Marianelli

DUNKIRK Hans Zimmer

PHANTOM THREAD Jonny Greenwood

THE SHAPE OF WATER Alexandre Desplat

CINEMATOGRAPHY

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Roger Deakins

DARKEST HOUR Bruno Delbonnel

DUNKIRK Hoyte van Hoytema

THE SHAPE OF WATER Dan Laustsen

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Ben Davis

EDITING

BABY DRIVER Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Joe Walker

DUNKIRK Lee Smith

THE SHAPE OF WATER Sidney Wolinsky

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Jon Gregory

PRODUCTION DESIGN

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola

DARKEST HOUR Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer

DUNKIRK Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis

THE SHAPE OF WATER Paul Austerberry, Jeff Melvin, Shane Vieau

COSTUME DESIGN

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Jacqueline Durran

DARKEST HOUR Jacqueline Durran

I, TONYA Jennifer Johnson

PHANTOM THREAD Mark Bridges

THE SHAPE OF WATER Luis Sequeira

MAKE UP & HAIR

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Donald Mowat, Kerry Warn

DARKEST HOUR David Malinowski, Ivana Primorac, Lucy Sibbick, Kazuhiro Tsuji

I, TONYA Deborah La Mia Denaver, Adruitha Lee

VICTORIA & ABDUL Daniel Phillips

WONDER Naomi Bakstad, Robert A. Pandini, Arjen Tuiten

SOUND

BABY DRIVER Tim Cavagin, Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Mark Mangini, Mac Ruth

DUNKIRK Richard King, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, Mark Weingarten

THE SHAPE OF WATER Christian Cooke, Glen Gauthier, Nathan Robitaille, Brad Zoern

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Stuart Wilson, Matthew Wood

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

BLADE RUNNER 2049 Gerd Nefzer, John Nelson

DUNKIRK Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson

THE SHAPE OF WATER Dennis Berardi, Trey Harrell, Kevin Scott

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Nominees tbc

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES Nominees tbc

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION

HAVE HEART Will Anderson

MAMOON Ben Steer

POLES APART Paloma Baeza, Ser En Low

BRITISH SHORT FILM

AAMIR Vika Evdokimenko, Emma Stone, Oliver Shuster

COWBOY DAVE Colin O’Toole, Jonas Mortensen

A DROWNING MAN Mahdi Fleifel, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Patrick Campbell

WORK Aneil Karia, Scott O’Donnell

WREN BOYS Harry Lighton, Sorcha Bacon, John Fitzpatrick

EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)

DANIEL KALUUYA

FLORENCE PUGH

JOSH O’CONNOR

TESSA THOMPSON

TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET

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