There are always a few big surprises and heartbreaks come the morning of Oscar nominations, as much as awards strategists try to mitigate those. But the batch of nominees for the 95th Academy Awards seemed to have more than its fair share of shockers, good and bad.
“Till” director Chinonye Chukwu claimed that Hollywood has a history of “unabashed misogyny towards black women” after being snubbed.
“We live in a world and work in industries that are so aggressively committed to upholding whiteness and perpetuating an unabashed misogyny towards black women,” she wrote on Instagram.
“And yet. I am forever in gratitude for the greatest lesson of my life — regardless of any challenges or obstacles, I will always have the power to cultivate my own joy, and it is this joy that will continue to be one of my greatest forms of resistance.”
Director Chinonye Chukwu claimed that Hollywood has a history of “unabashed misogyny towards black women” after “Till” was overlooked for an Oscar nomination.Getty Images
“We live in a world and work in industries that are so aggressively committed to upholding whiteness and perpetuating an unabashed misogyny towards black women,” she wrote on Instagram.Instagram/Chinonye Chukwu
“I am forever in gratitude for the greatest lesson of my life – regardless of any challenges or obstacles, I will always have the power to cultivate my own joy, and it is this joy that will continue to be one of my greatest forms of resistance,” the directed concluded.Getty Images for National Board Meanwhile, Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King” was entirely shut out from the Oscar nominations, a shocking turn for a well-reviewed blockbuster that at one time had many predicting a best actress nod for Viola Davis as the fierce Agojie leader, a best picture nod and one for best director.
No black woman has ever been nominated for best director, a deplorable statistic that was unfortunately not changed this year.
There was hope that members might acknowledge some of the extraordinary films this year that happened to have a woman behind the camera, especially after two consecutive years of women winning the prize (Jane Campion and Chloé Zhao). The would-be nominees included Prince-Bythewood, Sarah Polley for “Women Talking,” and Charlotte Wells for “Aftersun.”
I’m not sure anyone was expecting Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”) to get one of the five directing spots over James Cameron (“Avatar: The Way of Water”), Baz Luhrmann (“Elvis”) or Joseph Kosinski (“Top Gun: Maverick”), either.
