"Wonder Woman" director Patty Jenkins expressed deep exasperation over the lack of women nominated for best director at this year’s Academy Awards.
"I give up," Jenkins told Hollywood outlet Variety at an Oscars pre-party in regard to the lack of female representation in the best director category.
Among all the directors nominated for category, none were women. Out of the six male directors, the filmmaking duo behind 2023’s best picture Oscar winner "Everything Everywhere All at Once," Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert took home the coveted award.
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Prior to the award being given out, Jenkins complained that the methods of voting who wins the award are still "hugely imbalanced" and there is still much more "diversity" that the Academy Awards need to achieve in the future.
During the Chanel pre-Oscars dinner, she told Variety reporter Marc Malkin, "I give up, I give up. 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."
According to the superhero movie director, the lack of female nominees in the best director category proves "It’s still going to take a long ways to go."
She declared, "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."
2021 best director Oscar winner for her film "Nomadland," Chloe Zhao made similar points about the current lack of female representation in Hollywood to Variety as well.
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Last week, the director told the outlet "There’s clearly a very big gap for women filmmakers in our industry."
Zhao, who also directed Marvel Studios’ "The Eternals," and was the second woman in Oscars history to win the best director award added, "We’re not doing it for awards, but that does help for the longevity of careers."
Zhao also noted she wants to see more females working in the sci-fi genre specifically, saying, "The genre inspires the next generation and young people to be scientists one day," she said. "What we do in sci-fi right now really helps raise our technology because the people that are watching those stories will become the scientists who create the technology for our future."
Other female Hollywood A-listers have slammed the Oscars for not recognizing female directing talent. While attending the Oscars in 2020, "Star Wars" and "Black Swan" actress Natalie Portman wore a Dior cape embroidered with the names of the female directors she claimed were "not recognized" by the Academy that year.
She said, "I wanted to recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work this year in a subtle way."
