Jane Campion, Chloé Zhao, and Coralie Fargeat are three of the nine women who have been nominated for best directing at the Academy Awards.
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In the Oscars' nearly century-long history, only nine women have ever been nominated for their directing.
Jane Campion, Chloé Zhao, and Kathryn Bigelow are the only women to win the best director award.
Coralie Fargeat is the latest woman to be nominated, for her film "The Substance."
The Oscars have been around since 1929, but to date, only nine women have been nominated for the award for best director.
Since Lina Wertmüller became the first woman nominated for the award in 1977, there have only been a handful of subsequent nominations, and even more notable snubs. Only three women who were nominated for the award have ever won it.
Coralie Fargeat, who was nominated for "The Substance," is now the ninth woman to be nominated for the award for best director at the Oscars.
Fargeat and "The Substance" have been major players on the festival and awards circuit in the 2024-2025 season. Fargeat won the award for best screenplay at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, and she notched nominations for directing and screenplay at the 2025 Golden Globes. Demi Moore, the film's star, was also nominated for best actress at the Academy Awards after winning the same award at the 2025 Golden Globes.
Here are all the women who have been nominated for best director at the Oscars.
In 1977, Wertmüller became the first woman ever to be nominated in the directing category at the 49th Academy Awards. She was also nominated for best original screenplay. Her film, "Seven Beauties," is an Italian-language movie about an Italian man who deserts the army during World War II, and is captured by Germans and sent to prison camp.
Wertmüller lost the directing category to John G. Avildsen for "Rocky." Other nominees in the category were Sidney Lumet ("Network"), Ingmar Bergman ("Face to Face") and Alan J. Pakula ("All the President's Men").
Jane Campion, "The Piano" (1994), "The Power of the Dog" (2022)Jane Campion won the award for best directing for "The Power of the Dog."
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In 1994, Campion became the second woman to be nominated for directing a film. "The Piano," about a mute piano player and her daughter, stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, and Anna Paquin, who won best supporting actress at age 11.
At the 66th Academy Awards ceremony, Campion won for best original screenplay, but lost the directing category to Steven Spielberg, who won for "Schindler's List."
Campion is the only woman who has earned multiple best director nominations at the Academy Awards. In 2021, she was nominated and won the award for "The Power of the Dog," which starred Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Kodi Smit-McPhee.
Sofia Coppola, "Lost in Translation" (2004)Sofia Coppola.
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Coppola's critically acclaimed dramedy starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson was a favorite in the 2004 awards season, earning her a nomination for best director. The movie, about two lonely Americans who become friends after meeting at a Tokyo hotel, was also nominated for best picture.
Though it didn't win in either of those categories, Coppola won the statue for best original screenplay. Coppola lost the directing category to Peter Jackson for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." Other nominees in the category included Fernando Meirelles ("City of God"), Peter Weir ("Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"), and Clint Eastwood ("Mystic River").
Kathryn Bigelow, "The Hurt Locker" (2010)Kathryn Bigelow.
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Bigelow was the first female director to win an Oscar, and earned the award for her film "The Hurt Locker." The film follows an elite bomb disposal unit during the Iraq War.
Bigelow won over Quentin Tarantino ("Inglorious Basterds"), Lee Daniels ("Precious"), Jason Reitman ("Up in the Air"), and James Cameron ("Avatar").
Greta Gerwig, "Lady Bird" (2018)Greta Gerwig.
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Gerwig was nominated for best director for her coming-of-age film "Lady Bird," which starred Saorise Ronan and Laurie Metcalf. Metcalf and Ronan were both nominated in acting categories, Gerwig was also nominated for the award for best original screenplay, and the film was nominated for best picture.
"Lady Bird" did not win any of those awards. The directing award that year went to Guillermo del Toro for "The Shape of Water."
Chloé Zhao, "Nomadland" (2021)Chloé Zhao accepting the award for best directing for "Nomadland."
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Chloé Zhao became the first woman of color to win the award for best director with her film "Nomadland." The film stars Francis McDormand a woman who pursues a nomadic lifestyle in the United States.
"Nomadland" also won the best picture award that year, and McDormand won the award for best actress. Zhao was also nominated for, but did not win, the Oscars for best adapted screenplay and best film editing.
Emerald Fennell, "Promising Young Woman" (2021)Emerald Fennell won the award for best original screenplay for "Promising Young Woman."
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Emerald Fennell was nominated for her film "Promising Young Woman" in 2021, but lost the directing award to Zhao that year.
"Promising Young Woman" was also up for best picture that year, but also lost to "Nomadland." Fennell, however, won the award for best original screenplay.
Justine Triet, "Anatomy of a Fall" (2023)Justine Triet won the award for best original screenplay for "Anatomy of a Fall."
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Justine Triet was nominated for best director for her film "Anatomy of a Fall," a French film that stars Sandra Hüller (also nominated) as a woman attempting to prove that she's innocent of her husband's possible murder.
Triet did not win the directing award, which went to Christopher Nolan for "Oppenheimer." She and writing partner Arthur Harari did, however, win the award for best original screenplay.
Coralie Fargeat, "The Substance" (2024)Coralie Fargeat at the 82nd annual Golden Globe Awards.
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Fargeat is the ninth woman to be nominated for best director at the Academy Awards, and the tenth overall nomination.
Her film, "The Substance," stars Demi Moore as a actor in her 50s who, after being fired from a longtime gig, takes a drug that creates a younger version of herself, played by Margaret Qualley.
For the directing award, Fargeat is competing against Sean Baker ("Anora"), Brady Corbet ("The Brutalist"), James Mangold ("A Complete Unknown"), and Jacques Audiard ("Emilia Pérez").
Carrie Wittmer contributed to a previous version of this article.
