Actress Natalie Portman has publicly condemned the 2026 Academy Awards for failing to properly acknowledge female directors in its nominations. Speaking at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah while promoting her latest film, The Gallerist, directed by Cathy Yan, the 44-year-old star highlighted ongoing gender disparities in Hollywood’s top awards. Portman emphasized that despite numerous impressive films helmed by women, the Oscars continue to sideline these creators.
The Challenges Female Directors Face in Film Industry Recognition
Portman pointed out that many outstanding films directed by women in the past year did not receive the accolades they deserve. She named titles including Sorry Baby, Left-Handed Girl, Hedda, and The Testament of Ann Lee as examples of exceptional work overlooked during awards season.
Highlighting the 2026 Best Director category, Portman acknowledged that although Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet received eight nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, it was the only female-directed film among the ten Best Picture contenders. Directors like Josh Safdie (Marty Supreme), Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another), Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value), and Ryan Coogler (Sinners) filled out the other spots.
Portman explained the difficulties women face beyond just awards recognition: securing funding, entering festivals, and gaining visibility are all harder hurdles to clear compared to their male counterparts.
“Even when you pass the barriers of getting your financing, which is harder, getting into festivals, which is harder. Every step of the road is harder, and then you’re out and it’s great, and then it also doesn’t get the attention,”
she said.
“We have a lot of work to do still.”
Despite the frustrations, Portman expressed a sense of solidarity and optimism about collaborating with women in the industry, describing the process as “very special” and filled with joy.
Historical Context: Female Directors and Oscars Recognition
Only three women have ever won the Best Director Academy Award: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker (2010), Chloé Zhao for Nomadland (2021), and Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog (2022). This stark statistic underscores the scarcity of female representation among winners in this category.
This is not Portman’s first observation about the lack of recognition for women directors. At the 2020 Oscars, she wore a dress with a black cape embroidered with the names of female directors who were snubbed that year, including Greta Gerwig, the director of Little Women. Additionally, in 2018 while presenting the Best Director award alongside Ron Howard at the Golden Globes, she drew attention to the absence of female nominees by stating onstage,
“And here are all the male nominees.”
Portman’s Own Career and Current Projects
Natalie Portman’s credentials include winning the Best Actress Oscar for her role in Black Swan at the 2011 Academy Awards, along with prior nominations for Closer (2005) and Jackie (2017). This year, she is also nominated as a producer in the Best Animated Feature category for Arlo.
Her newest movie, The Gallerist, is a dark comedy thriller featuring Jenna Ortega, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sterling K. Brown, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. The plot follows Portman’s character, a gallery owner who devises a scheme to sell a deceased man as an art piece at Art Basel in Miami.
Portman Voices Political Concerns at Sundance Amid Immigration Crackdown
While attending the Sundance Film Festival, Portman also spoke out strongly against the recent fatal shooting of intensive care nurse Alex Pretti by Department of Homeland Security agents in Minneapolis. The incident involved Customs and Border Protection agents opening fire after attempting to detain a female protester, with video footage showing Pretti filming the arrest before being tackled and shot multiple times.
Portman joined other celebrities, including Olivia Wilde, in wearing “ICE Out” pins to show their opposition to ongoing immigration crackdowns in Minneapolis and other locations. She described the current moment in the U.S. as “quite devastating” and condemned the brutality she attributes to ICE, insisting the violence “has to stop immediately.”
Despite these serious concerns, Portman noted the strength of community resilience and solidarity amid national suffering:
“But also there’s a beautiful community that Americans are showing right now. They’re showing up for each other, protecting each other and fighting for their freedom. It’s a bittersweet moment to celebrate something we’re so proud of on the backdrop of our nation in pain.”
