What you need to know about the women directors making history at the Golden Globes

The Globes have a pretty dismal track record, but this year things are looking up.
February 25, 2021 1:30 p.m. EST
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In the 77 years that the Golden Globes have been doling out those orb statues, only five women have ever been nominated in the best directing category: Barbra Streisand (Yentl), Jane Campion (The Piano), Sofia Coppola (Lost In Translation), Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty), and Ava DuVernay (Selma).

It’s a pretty dismal track record, but this year things are looking up.

This year there are three women up for the award: Regina King, Chloé Zhao, and Emerald Fennell. They’ll face off against Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7) and four-time directing nominee David Fincher (Mank). For those keeping track, that means there’s a 60 per cent chance that a woman could win the trophy in 2021. That’s a big deal, considering the only woman to have ever previously won in the Best Directing for a Motion Picture category was Streisand. She won for Yentl way back in 1983, and in the 37 years since it’s been a dude walking away with the award every single time.

If you like this year’s odds, here’s what you need to know about the women filmmakers who are making history at the annual show.

Regina King, One Night In Miami

How you know her: King has been directing episodic television for years, but she’s also an iconic on-screen force. She’s starred in big-screen contenders like Ray and Jerry Maguire, she took home an Oscar (and a Globe) for the 2018 film If Beale Street Could Talk, and she’s a four-time Emmy winner for her roles in series like American Crime, Seven Seconds, and Watchmen.

What else she’s directed: One Night in Miami may be King’s feature directorial debut, but she’s been directing TV episodes ever since she first took the reins on an episode of her 2013 series Southland. Since then, she’s used her behind-the-scenes skills on projects like Scandal, Being Mary Jane, The Catch, Animal Kingdom, This Is Us, The Good Doctor and Insecure.

About One Night in Miami: The fictional film traces one incredible night when icons Muhammad Ali (Eli Goree), Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) and Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) gathered to chat about their respective roles in the Civil Rights Movement. It’s based on a stage play by Kemp Powers (who also adapted the film script). In addition to garnering King a Golden Globe nomination, the film was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Odom Jr.) and Best Song Motion Picture, “Speak Now.”

What the critics are saying: King is on an award-winning streak, so to speak, having amassed four Emmys and an Oscar in just six years. That pushes her to the forefront of the voters’ minds for sure, despite the fact that films based on stage plays have not fared so well historically at the Globes. However because the film itself was not nominated for Best Motion Picture, that could also hurt her chances of a win.

Chloé Zhao, ‘Nomadland’

How you know her: Unlike fellow nominees Regina King and Emerald Fennell, Chloé Zhao is a strictly behind-the-scenes talent. That means her work may not be as easily recognizable to a general audience, but film buffs are probably familiar with her emotionally intimate, captivating storytelling. The Chinese director, screenwriter and producer has stuck to the big screen and shorts with her past projects, and she’s definitely riding a wave of accolades for Nomadland heading into the Globes.

What else she’s directed: Zhao’s debut film, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, had a prestigious debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015. And her second major film debut, The Rider, was also critically acclaimed and earned lots of nods when it hit the scene in 2017.

About Nomadland: The surprising story of a woman in her sixties who embarks on a journey through the American West after losing everything in the Great Recession stars double Oscar-winner Frances McDormand. The story has been compared to a real-life Grapes of Wrath and praised for its quiet but impactful portrayal. Although it’s a fictional story, Zhao based her screenplay (yep, she also wrote it) on the real-life people in journalist Jessica Bruder’s 2017 novel of the same name.

What the critics are saying: This film is favoured to win heavily come Globes night, having also secured nominations for best screenplay, best film, and best performance (McDormand). Many awards watchers are putting Zhao on the ballot for a win, especially after lead-up directing wins from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, the Black Film Critics Circle Awards, and many other prominent film critic circles from across America.

Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

How you know her: As a director, writer and actor, Fennell is emerging as a true triple threat. On screen you may recognize her as The Crown’s Camilla Parker Bowles or as Nurse Patsy Mount on Call the Midwife. But the English scribe also oversaw the second season of Killing Eve and wrote for the 2016 series Drifters.

What else she’s directed: This really is Fennell’s first major directing gig. Previously she wrote and directed the short, Careful How You Go.

About Promising Young Woman: Fennell is particularly close to the film given that she also wrote the Golden Globe nominated script. The movie stars Carey Mulligan as a woman named Cassandra whose traumatic past sets her on a surprising course of revenge and is considered a timely story following the #MeToo movement in Hollywood. Adam Brody, Laverne Cox and Jennifer Coolidge also star, and in addition to grabbing nods at this year’s Globes for Best Screenplay and Best Director, the film is also up for Best Motion Picture Drama and Best Actress Motion Picture Drama (Mulligan).

What the critics are saying: The fact that Promising Young Woman is also up for Best Screenplay Motion Picture and Best Motion Picture Drama definitely bolsters first-time nominee Fennell’s chances of taking home a win, but her lack of name recognition in the directing department, especially against recurring nominees like Sorkin and Fincher, could work against her.  

 

BEFORE YOU GO: Meet the cast of the buzzworthy film ‘Minari’

 

[video_embed id='2146458']BEFORE YOU GO: Meet the cast of the buzzworthy film ‘Minari’[/video_embed]


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