Academy still grappling with diversity
“To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters who hear the music bubbling within; please speak up. We need to hear your voices.”
That was Hildur Guðnadóttir, beaming and celebrating becoming one of the few women to win an Oscar for best original score, for the film Joker. Her win followed a montage of nominated scores conducted by maestra Eímear Noone — the first time a woman had conducted the orchestra in the Academy’s 92- year history.
The 2020 Oscars were widely pilloried in the runup to the ceremony for failing to nominate worthy female and minority filmmakers. It was a chorus that continued onto the stage, as when Steve Martin remarked to co- presenter Chris Rock about the nominated directors: “I thought there was something missing from the list this year.” And Rock replied: “Vaginas?”
Rock also referenced the one black acting nominee — from a movie about Harriet Tubman — by noting: “Cynthia Erivo did such a good job hiding black people in Harriet, the Academy had her hide all the black nominees.”
And yet, by the end of the evening, you could be forgiven for thinking there was a whole lot more representation at the Academy Awards this year. It started early, with a best animated short win for Hair Love, from writer and co- director Matthew Cherry.
“We have a firm belief that representation matters deeply,” said producer Karen Rupert Toliver, accepting the award alongside Cherry. “Especially in cartoons, because in cartoons that’s when we first see our movies and it’s how we shape our lives and think about how we see the world.” Both filmmakers are black.
Shortly thereafter, the screenwriting awards were won by Korean director Bong Joon Ho for Parasite — the first time a foreign- language film has won the best original screenplay Oscar since Talk to Her in 2002 — and by Taika Waititi, the Jewish/ Maori writer/director of Jojo Rabbit. He dedicated his award to “all the indigenous kids in the world … we are the original storytellers and we can make it here as well.”
Parasite went on to win best international feature ( the first South Korean film to do so), best director — the second year in a row for a foreign- language director, after Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma — and, in a history- making moment, best picture. No foreign- language film has ever been given Oscar’s top prize.
There were many female winners as well, including Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh for production design ( Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood) and Jacqueline Durran for costume design (Little Women).
Four of the five nominees for both short and feature documentaries were directed or co- directed by women. The feature winner, American Factory, was from Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar, while the short winner, Learning to Skateboard in Afghanistan in a Warzone ( If You’re a Girl), was directed by Carol Dysinger, and tells the story of Skateistan, a school in Kabul that teaches skateboarding alongside traditional subjects.
“This movie is my love letter to the brave girls of that country,” said Dysinger.
At Skateistan, she said, “They teach girls courage, to raise your hand, to say I am here, I have something to say, and I’m going to take that ramp. Don’t try to stop me!”
Still, the Oscars remain an overwhelmingly male domain, especially in the major categories. Only five women have ever been nominated for directing, and the sole winner, Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker, was in 2009.
It’s an imbalance, and one that one attendee wore on her sleeves. Presenter and 2011 Oscar- winner Natalie Portman arrived at the ceremony wearing a cape embroidered with the names of overlooked female directors — Greta Gerwig ( Little Women), Lorene Scafaria ( Hustlers), Lulu Wang ( The Farewell), Marielle Heller (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood), Mati Diop ( Atlantics), Melina Matsoukas (Queen & Slim), Alma Har’el (Honey Boy) and Céline Sciamma ( Portrait of a Lady on Fire).