Opinion | How women remain neglected in Hollywood

As many have done in the world, I connected to the Oscars 2020 to see the story take place. Bong Joon-ho has broken many records for his film "Parasite", winning numerous awards, including that of the Academy for Best Film. Taika Waititi also became the first Aboriginal writer to win the Best Adapted Screenplay award. But what about those who have been snubbed by Oscar?

The 2020 nominations did not include female directors, which fails in any progress toward gender equality in Hollywood. The directors are not recognized for their work in terms of awards and nominations.

In the 92 years of Oscar history, only five women were nominated for best director and only one woman won the award when Kathryn Bigelow won in 2010 for her film "The Hurt Locker". Aside from Bigelow, Lina Wertmller, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola and Greta Gerwig were the only other women to be nominated for best director.

Aside from these women, men dominated the category of best director and most of the other categories in the history of Academy appointments. The issue of gender inequality is not only present in award nominations, but throughout Hollywood as an industry. In the top 100 most profitable films in 2019, only 12% of directors, 20% of screenwriters, 2% of filmmakers, 26% of producers, 19% of executive producers and 23% of editors were women.

What does this say about the industry in which many people invest their time, as members of the public or as workers? There is an obvious problem regarding the inclusion of women in Hollywood projects, especially when recognizing women for their work. Without tackling this problem, progress toward equality in Hollywood will stall.

Greta Gerwig is one of five women nominated for best director in Oscar history for her 2017 film "Lady Bird", but she has not received the same recognition this year for her "Little Women", a film that was praised by critics and members of the public. The film won a nomination for best film and many others, including the best adapted screenplay, but not the best director for Gerwig. Other films such as "The Farewell", directed by Lulu Wang, and "Hustlers", directed by Lorene Scarfaria, have not received any nominations for Best Director despite excellent reviews and pushing the limits of the film. .

Prior to the award nominations this season, Gerwig's film "Little Women" was highly contested for the top five Oscar categories, but instead fell short of those nominations. How could a film so well commented and so appreciated as a whole not get the first prize? Easy. She is a woman competing in a male world with little recognition given to her talent.

Apart from the nominations for the best directors, only three films that have only been written, directed and produced by a woman have never been nominated for the best film. This year, the honor goes to Greta Gerwig despite not having been nominated for the best director, which shows a major flaw and inconsistency in the entertainment industry.

Looking again at Greta Gerwig as an example of this year's Oscar snobs, she did an interview with PBS "NewsHour" to talk about the importance for women to be represented in Oscar nominations. Gerwig said, in discussing young girls who want to become directors and work in the cinema, that they "maybe believed a little more, because they had seen a woman named". It is significant to see women get the best recognition that many men receive.

There is an obvious correlation between the lack of female applicants for awards and the number of women in the industry as a whole. While some might argue that the lack of female directors working is the reason many do not receive nominations, it seems rather to discourage women who want to become filmmakers but don't know how to compete with the industry's larger male population.