DGA president, Judd Apatow address lack of women director nominees

At the Directors Guild Awards ceremony, DGA president Thomas Schlamme and writer-director Judd Apatow took on the elephant in the room as they addressed the lack of female directors nominated at this year's edition.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the ceremony which was held on Saturday night, saw a much needed discussion about the lack of diversity in nominations this awards season.

The five feature film directors nominated at this year's DGA Awards were Bong Joon Ho for "Parasite", Sam Mendes for "1917", Martin Scorsese for "The Irishman", Quentin Tarantino for "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and Taika Waititi for "Jojo Rabbit".

 

The DGA too overlooked female filmmakers after both the Golden Globes and Academy Awards drew criticism for excluding women in the directing categories.

Greta Gerwig ("Little Women"), Lulu Wang ("The Farewell", Kasi Lemmons ("Harriet") and Lorene Scafaria ("Hustlers") were ignored at all three ceremonies.

"I caution us to use awards as the barometer, the only barometer, of progress it's just one measure. Doing so overlooks the hard work by so many," Schlamme said.

The DGA president also noted that the fight for equality is one "we've led for many years," and lauded the fact that "for the first time, half of TV episodes, 50 percent, (are) directed by women or people of colour."

Apatow, who was the host for the evening, made a quip about the snubs in a reference to director Katherine Bigelow recognised as the first and only female helmer to win best director Oscar for "The Hurt Locker".

"I'm sad to say no women nominated for director this year," he said as the crowd erupted into boos. "It's because women only direct women's movies like 'The Hurt Locker'."

As she accepted the dramatic series award for the "Watchmen" episode "It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice", director Nicole Kassell touched on the lack of nominated female directors.

"As a member of the DGA board and a citizen of the world, I must try to do all I can to see this room and the nominees reach equity. The table of first-time filmmakers is simply gorgeous - this must become the norm," Kassell said.