The Directors Guild of America (DGA) made a bold decision today by nominating Greta Gerwig, the helmer of the season’s biggest discovery and critics darling, Lady Bird, making her just the eighth woman to be ever recognized by this group.
The guild, which is large and democratic in its admission policies, claims a better record than the Academy’s Directors Branch, which has only nominated four women in the category to date. The last nominee was Kathryn Bigelow, who made history with her 2009 DGA win for “The Hurt Locker,” which then won the Best Director and Best Picture.
Gerwig joins Lina Wertmüller (“Seven Beauties”), Randa Haines (“Children of a Lesser God”), Barbra Streisand (“The Prince of Tides”), Jane Campion (“The Piano”), and two-timer Bigelow (“Zero Dark Thirty,” “The Hurt Locker”).
Black Nominee: Jordan Peele
The DGA nominated a filmmaker of color, “Get Out” helmer Jordan Peele. Peele joins previous black nominees Lee Daniels (“Precious”), Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”) and Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”) as only the fourth black director to be recognized. The statistic that jumps out there is all four of them have come within the last decade.
Mexican helmer Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water”), Martin McDonagh (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) and Christopher Nolan (“Dunkirk”) rounded out the slate
Spielberg was passed over this year, for “The Post.” So far, only the National Board of Review (NBR), which is the least prestigious and influential group (composed of teachers and lovers) has singled out the film with multiple awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Tom Hanks), and Best Actress (Meryl Streep).
DGA First Time Filmmakers
Peele also is present in DGA’s first-time filmmaker category. He is nominated alongside Geremy Jasper (“Patti Cake$”), William Oldroyd (“Lady Macbeth”), Taylor Sheridan (“Wind River”) and Aaron Sorkin (“Molly’s Game”).
Last year, “Lion” helmer Garth Davis was also nominated for both categories, though he did not make the final cut of the Academy’s Directors Branch.