We're just a few weeks into 2018, but it's already been a big year for women filmmakers. At the Golden Globes, Natalie Portman called out the lack of female directing nominees. This week, Lady Bird's Greta Gerwig became the fifth — that's five in 91 YEARS — woman to get a Best Director nomination at the Oscars. And as of this weekend, some up-and-coming talents have staked a claim for a place in Hollywood her-story.
For the second year in a row, a woman has taken home Sundance Film Festival's Directing Award in the Dramatic category. As Variety reports, Sara Colangelo won for helming The Kindergarten Teacher, which stars Maggie Gyllenhaal; Beach Rats' Eliza Hittman won in 2017.
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Gyllenhaal was quick to congratulate her director on Twitter, calling her work "exquisite."
Yesssss! Congratulations @saracolangelo for winning BEST DIRECTOR at #sundance2018 for #TheKindergartenTeacher You’re work is exquisite. I’m so proud to be a part of it. pic.twitter.com/0yfc9OigTT
— Maggie Gyllenhaal (@mgyllenhaal) January 28, 2018
Women dominated many of the top prizes, with The Miseducation of Cameron Post, directed and co-written by Desiree Akhavan, winning the Grand Jury Prize for its portrayal of gay conversion therapy. The film stars Sasha Lane and Chloë Grace Moretz.
Christina Choe was honored with the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for her script for Nancy, a psychological drama starring Andrea Riseborough as an imposter who fashions a web of lies. In the U.S. Documentary competition, the Directing Award went to Alexandria Bombach for On Her Shoulders, while Shirkers' Sandi Tan won the Directing Award in the World Cinema Documentary category.
One can only hope that this translates to further recognition for women filmmakers, particularly concerning high-profile award shows like the Golden Globes and Oscars. Quite frankly, five women in 91 years simply isn't good enough.
Click here for a full list of all 2018 Sundance Film Festival winners.
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