Women in Film ‘Disappointed’ in DGA Awards’ Lack of Female Nominees for Feature Films

The advocacy group Women in Film says it is “disappointed” by the Directors Guild of America awards’ lack of female nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film.

In a statement Wednesday, the group pointed out that 2022 saw “women like Sarah Polley, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Chinonye Chukwu, and Maria Schrader helm some of the most acclaimed and successful films.”

While there were no female nominees on the DGA’s list announced earlier in the day, four of the five nominees in the first-time feature category were women: Alice Diop for “Saint Omer,” Audrey Diwan for “Happening,” Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic for “Murina” and Charlotte Wells for “Aftersun.”

The fifth nominee in that category was John Patton Ford for “Emily the Criminal.”

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Winners will be announced during the 75th annual DGA Awards ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 18 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Read Women in Film’s full statement below.

We are disappointed by the DGA’s lack of women directors in its nominations for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film, in a year when we have seen women like Sarah Polley, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Chinonye Chukwu, and Maria Schrader helm some of the most acclaimed and successful films.

It’s heartening to see a majority of the nominees for First-Time Theatrical Director to be women, but this is a clear illustration of the problems underrepresented people face with career sustainability in our industry.

This year’s all-male nominees for Feature Film do have some women ADs and UPMs on their teams, but we would hope to see the guilds recognize a more balanced slate of talent among their ranks, even when we know that other awards-granting bodies so regularly fall short.

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