This morning director Ava DuVernay joins the growing list of women whose films received Oscar nominations for Best Picture without receiving a nomination for Best Director themselves.
The list of women who have directed Best Picture nominees/winners:
- Randa Haines, Children of a Lesser God, 1986
- Barbra Streisand, The Prince of Tides, 1991
- Valerie Faris, Little Miss Sunshine, 2007 (her co-director Jonathan Dayton received a nomination)
- Loveleen Tandan, Slumdog Millionaire, 2008 (her co-director Danny Boyle won the Oscar for Best Director that year)
- Lone Scherfig, An Education, 2009
- Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right, 2010
- Debra Granik, Winter’s Bone, 2010
- Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty, 2013
- Ava DuVernay, Selma, 2015
Additionally Kátia Lund, co-director of City of God, did not receive a nomination for her work on the film despite the fact that her co-director Fernando Meirelles did.
Only 4 women have ever been nominated for best director and only 1, Kathryn Bigelow, has won.