Director Patty Jenkins is not happy with the Academy not including women in this year’s Best Director nominations. Jenkins, 51, who directed Wonder Woman, shared her thoughts on the entertainment subject with Variety on Saturday at the Charles Finch and Chanel pre-Oscars dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel’s Polo Lounge in Los Angeles.
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“I give up, I give up,” she told the outlet about no women nominated for Best Director. “I say that even with all of their push to have diversity. The numbers are just hugely imbalanced of who votes for these things. I sort of just stopped paying attention to it.
Patty Jenkins Says ‘It’s Going To Take A Lot More’ When It Comes To Diversity In Awards
“It’s still going to take a long ways to go,” Patty Jenkins said. “It’s going to take a lot more to really see truly more diverse awards. I really appreciate the efforts that they’re making but we have a long way to go.”
Female directors shut out of the category whose films were nominated in other categories include Charlotte Wells (Aftersun) and Sarah Polley (Women Talking). Gina Prince-Blythewood’s The Woman King, Chinonye Chukwu’s Till, and Maria Schrader’s She Said also were not recognized, PEOPLE reports.
“This awards season was an eye-opener,” Prince-Bythewood told The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday. Her response was in a piece exploring her reaction to the nominations, which did not include The Woman King’s Viola Davis for Best Actress. But Davis was recognized by every major precursor, including the BAFTAs and the SAGs.
Gina Prince-Blythewood Calls Her Film A Success Despite No Recognition From The Academy
Despite The Woman King’s lack of recognition by the Academy, Prince-Bythewood maintained that her film was a success. She cites the movie’s positive reviews from critics and audiences, as well as “groundbreaking and historic” global box office numbers that show the film will earn $100 million.
“But the Academy made a very loud statement, and for me to stay quiet is to accept that statement,” she told THR. “So I agreed to speak up, on behalf of Black women whose work has been dismissed in the past, is dismissed now like Alice Diop and Saint Omer, Chinonye Chukwu and Till — and for those who haven’t even stepped on a set yet.”
Meanwhile, Patty Jenkins was set to helm Rogue Squadron, a spinoff story about the Rebel Alliance Starfighters from the franchise. It was originally slated for a December 2023 release from Disney. It was pulled from the schedule in September, Variety reported last week. A source told the outlet that Rogue Squadron is no longer in development.