Emerald Fennell and Chloé Zhao became the eighth and ninth women ever to be nominated by the. Zhao is the first woman of color to ever be nominated. They join a small list of women that have been recognized by the large guild – Lina Wertmüller , Barbra Streisand , Jane Campion , Sofia Coppola , Valerie Faris , Kathryn Bigelow and Greta Gerwig .
The first-time feature film director category, which was introduced in 2015, had many of the year’s top awards contenders in the mix but no overlap, which was surprising considering Fennell made the main lineup. Three filmmakers of color made the lineup including Radha Blank , Fernando Frias de la Parra and Regina King . The trio are joined by Darius Marder and Florian Zeller
Past winners for the first-time feature director have included Alex Garland , Garth Davis , Jordan Peele , Bo Burnham and Alma Har’el , with only Davis and Peele securing Oscar nominations. Burnham famously beat Bradley Cooper , who was nominated in both DGA categories but was snubbed for an Oscar nomination in best director.
There have been four women previously nominated for first-time director – Marielle Heller , Kelly Fremon Craig , Melina Matsoukas and the aforementioned Har’el.
This year’s DGA Awards will take place on Saturday, April 10, with details to come on how the ceremony will be handled. Prolific TV director and former DGA president Paris Barclay is set to receive the DGA Honorary Life Member Award.
Yes! Representation is sexy!