Steven Spielberg says he expects Oscars to honor female directors
If Steven Spielberg gets his way, this year’s Oscar nominees for best director won’t be exclusively men.
Spielberg was one of five men nominated for best director at this year’s Golden Globes, when Natalie Portman publicly called out the “all-male nominees.” At Tuesday’s National Board of Review Awards, Entertainment Tonightasked him for his reaction to Portman’s Globes comment, and The Post director said that he hopes the Oscars will do better and honor some of this year’s eligible female directors. (He even suggested a few potential candidates, including Mudbound’s Dee Rees and Lady Bird’s Greta Gerwig.)
“There’s also a watershed happening right now, slowly, maybe not fast enough, for women directors,” the director told ET. “I mean you have Patty Jenkins. We have some amazing women that have come forward, you know Mudbound and Lady Bird. This is a pretty incredible year, and I think you’ll be seeing some nominations. I’m predicting at the Oscars this year for a woman director, if not several.”
Spielberg also weighed in on the increased conversation around sexual harassment and abuse in Hollywood, which led to the launch of the Time’s Up movement and a coordinated effort to wear black at the Golden Globes to raise awareness. The director told ET that it was “powerful, a watershed for women, a watershed for men, who will learn to listen or those who have been listening.”
Guillermo del Toro won best director for The Shape of Water at this year’s Golden Globes, beating out Spielberg, Martin McDonagh, Ridley Scott, and Christopher Nolan in the category.
