As Natalie Portman famously pointed out at the 2018 Golden Globes, “Here are the all-male nominees” for the 2023 Directors Guild of America Awards.
In the Feature Film category, the group nominated Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (“All at once”), Todd Field (“Tár”), Joseph Kosinski (“Top Gun: Maverick”), Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) and Steven Spielberg (“The Fablemans”).
Despite critically acclaimed films by women directors such as Sarah Polley (Women Talking), Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King), Chinonye Chukwu (Till) and Maria Schrader (She Said), the DGA failed voters to recognize their achievements. This comes after the Golden Globes presented Spielberg with his directing award on Tuesday, for which no women were nominated.
Also missing are James Cameron for “Avatar: The Way of Water” and Baz Luhrmann for “Elvis”, both of which are considered to be very competitive in the directing race.
While DGA fumbled in the top category, they made up for it in the first-time feature category, led by Charlotte Wells (“Aftersun”), who was considered the front runner after leading the forerunners. Also present were Alice Diop (“Saint Omer”), Audrey Diwan (“Happening”), John Patton Ford (“Emily the Criminal”) and Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović (“Murina”).
So far, 11 women have been nominated for directorial debuts: Alma Har’el (“Honey Boy”), Radha Blank (“The Forty-Year-Old Version”), Regina King (“One Night in Miami”), Marielle Heller (“The Diary of a Teenage Girl), Kelly Fremon Craig (The Edge of Seventeen), Mati Diop (Atlantics), Melina Matsoukas (Queen & Slim), Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter), Rebecca Hall (“Passing”), Tatiana Huezo (“Prayers for the Stolen”) and Emma Seligman (“Shiva Baby”). This year, for the first time, more than three or four women could lead their male counterparts in this category.
Disqualified from the first directing race were Elegance Bratton for his personal LGBTQ drama The Inspection and BJ Novak for his comedy thriller Vengeance.
The Directors Guild previously announced their nominees for television, led by HBO’s “Station Eleven,” Apple TV+’s “Severance,” and Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”
This year’s DGA Awards will be held on February 18th at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
The full list of nominees is below.
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Feature Film
- Todd Field“Tár” (focus functions)
Unit Production Manager: Nigel Wooll, First Assistant Director: Sebastian Fahr-Brix - Joseph KosinskyTop Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
Unit Production Managers: LeeAnn Stonebreaker, Tommy Harper, First Assistant Director: Scott Robertson, Second Assistant Director: Andrew Stahl, Robert E. Kay, Second Second Assistant Director: Spencer Taylor - Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert“Everything everywhere at once” (A24)
Unit Production Manager: Allison Rose Carter, First Assistant Director: Rodney Smith, Second Assistant Director: John Nasraway, Second Second Assistant Director: Ken C. Wu - Martin McDonagh“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)
First assistant director: Peter Kohn - Steven Spielberg“The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)
Unit Production Manager: Carla Raij, First Assistant Director: Josh McLaglen, Second Assistant Director: Heather Wagner-Wang, Second Second Assistant Director: David Stickler
Outstanding Directorial Achievement by a First-Time Feature Film Director
- Alice Diop“Holy Omer” (Neon)
- Audrey Diwan“Happening” (IFC Films)
- John Patton Ford“Emily the Criminal” (Roadside Attractions/Vertical Entertainment)
- Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic“Murina” (Cinema Lorber)
- Charlotte Wells“Night Sun” (A24)
To see the current rankings for each category, visit Variety Shows Oscars Hub. Make sure you bookmark it 2022-2023 Awards Season Calendar for all important dates and timelines for the season.