End of Male Domination at Oscars 2018? Not Yet!

The powerful speeches, Time’s Up Movement, #MeToo and nominations in 17 categories bagged by women (other than the compulsory 2, of course) all spoke of Women’s Empowerment. But despite Frances McDormand promoting an “inclusion rider”, it was still the men who swept the awards. The Awards Night saw the lowest number of Female Oscar Winners.

23% Non-acting Women Nominees

Besides the 10 nominees for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, 47 other nominations were claimed by women in 17 categories. A total of 57 women were nominated for 52 awards, some being nominated jointly. It is an increase of a meager 3% from last year’s Oscars.

Best Picture – Producers (8 women, 22 men)

1. Emilie Georges / Call Me By Your Name
2. Lisa Bruce / Darkest Hour
3. Emma Thomas / Dunkirk
4. Evelyn O’Neill / Lady Bird
5. JoAnne Sellar and Megan Ellison / Phantom Thread
6. Amy Pascal and Kristie Macosko Krieger / The Post

Actress in a Leading Role

7. Sally Hawkins / The Shape of Water
8. Frances McDormand / Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
9. Margot Robbie / I, Tonya
10. Saoirse Ronan / Lady Bird
11. Meryl Streep / The Post

Actress in a Supporting Role

12. Mary J. Blige / Mudbound
13. Allison Janey / I, Tonya
14. Lelsey Manville /Phantom Thread
15. Laurie Metcalf / Lady Bird
16. Octavia Spencer / The Shape of Water

Animated Feature Film (5 women, 5 men)

17. Ramsey Naito / The Boss Baby
18. Nora Twomey / The Breadwinner
19. Darla K. Anderson / Coco
20. Lori Forte / Ferdinand
21. Dorota Kobiela / Loving Vincent

Cinematography (1 woman; 4 men)

22. Rachel Morrison / Mudbound

Costume Design (3 women; 2 men)

23. Jacqueline Durran / Beauty and the Beast
24. Jacqueline Durran / Darkest Hour
25. Consolata Boyle / Victoria & Abdul

Directing (1 woman, 4 men)

26. Greta Gerwig / Lady Bird

Documentary – Feature (4 women, 9 men)

27. Julie Goldman / Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
28. Rosalie Varda / Faces Places
29. Agnès Varda / Faces Places
30. Joslyn Barnes / Strong Island

Documentary – Short Subject (3 women, 5 men)

31. Laura Checkoway / Edith+Eddie
32. Elaine McMillion Sheldon / Heroin(E)
33. Kate Davis / Traffic Stop

Film Editing (1 woman, 5 men)

34. Tatiana S. Riegel / I, Tonya

Foreign Language Film (1 woman, 4 men)

35. Ildikó Enyedi / On Body and Soul

Makeup and Hairstyling (2 women; 4 men)

36. Lucy Sibbick / The Darkest Hour
37. Lou Sheppard / Victoria & Abdul

Music – Original Song (4 women; 6 men)

38. Mary J. Blige and Taura Stinson / “Mighty River” from Mudbound
39. Kristen Anderson-Lopez / “Remember Me” from Coco
40. Diane Warren / “Stand Up For Something” from Marshall

Production Design (5 women, 6 men)

41. Alessandra Querzola (set decoration) / Blade Runner
42. Sarah Greenwood (production design) and Katie Spencer (set decoration) / Beauty and the Beast
43. Sarah Greenwood (production design) and Katie Spencer (set decoration) / The Darkest Hour

Short Film – Animated (2 women, 8 men)

44. Dana Murray / “Lou”
45. Ru Kuwahata / “Negative Space”

Short Film – Live Action (2 women, 6 men)

46. Rachel Shenton / “The Silent Child”
47. Katja Benrath / “Watu Wote/All of Us”

Sound Mixing (1 woman, 15 men)

48. Mary H. Ellis / Baby Driver

Writing – Adapted Screenplay (1 woman; 8 men)

49. Dee Rees / Mudbound

Writing – Original Screenplay (3 women; 4 men)

50. Emily V. Gordon / The Big Sick
51. Vanessa Taylor / The Shape of Water
52. Greta Gerwig / Lady Bird

How Many Won?

Here comes the depressing part – only 6 women (including the female actors) won. The facts are not flattering:

1. Only 6 women won this evening
2. Of them, 2 won in Best Actress and Supporting Actress categories – Allison Janney and Frances McDormand – with no male contenders obviously
3. The other 4 winners are Lucy Sibbick for Best Make-Up and Hairstyling (The Darkest Hour), Kristen Anderson for Best Original Song (Coco), Rachel Shenton for Best Live Action Short (The Silent Child), Darla K Anderson Best Animated Feature (Coco)
4. All 4 non-acting female winners shared their awards with at least one other man.

Even the one category – Costume Design – that had more women nominated than men went to a man – Mark Bridges for Phantom Thread.

But there were major FIRSTS for women at the Oscars. Women were nominated in categories not usually considered their ‘domain’.

1. Rachel Morrison became the first woman to ever be nominated for Cinematography for Mudbound.

2. Mary J. Blige became the first women ever to be nominated for best supporting actress for her role in Mudbound, for a performance in a film directed by a woman of color.

3. Greta Gerwig, with LadyBird, became the first woman to ever win a best director nomination for her directorial debut.

4. For the first time in last 13 years (since Million Dollar Baby), a female-led movie (Shape of Water) won for Best Picture

Rachel Shenton and her fiancé, director Chris Overton won the award for Best Live Action Short (The Silent Child). Rachel gave her acceptance speech in spoken and sign language and thanked the Academy for giving their cause of uplifting deaf children, a wider crowd.

Double Nominations

Jacqueline Durran received two nominations in the same evening for her excellent costumes in both Beauty and the Beast as well as The Darkest Hour. She lost, however, to Mark Bridges. Mary J. Blige also received two nominations – one for her role as a supporting actress in Mudbound and the second for Original Song – Mighty River – from the same movie. She did not win either of them. Sarah Greenwood (production design) and Katie Spencer (set decoration) also won two nominations for Beauty and the Beast and The Darkest Hour.

The magical world of cinema is not about Gender or Race, but over the years, gender inequality in such a major arena leads to creating typical mindsets. The historic ‘firsts’ we gladly listed above, come with a sad realization that it took 90 long years to get to them. But the morales are high and the message of women empowerment is distinct. Here’s hoping for more Girl Power at the next Oscars!