--- description: Greta Gerwig became the fifth woman to be nominated for a Best Director Oscar for Lady Bird. Just one woman has ever won the category title: Greta Gerwig Is Only the Fifth Woman to Be Nominated for a Best Director Oscar image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea941198ed398e2a/69877820428a9e240ecc6647/458352874.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [awards](/tag/awards/) ## awards Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Greta Gerwig Is Only the Fifth Woman to Be Nominated for a Best Director Oscar  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 23, 2018 3:20 PM CUT  Actress Greta Gerwig attends The 11th Annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards at Spring Studios on November 3, 2014 in New York City. Actress Greta Gerwig attends The 11th Annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards at Spring Studios on November 3, 2014 in New York City.Gary Gershoff—WireImage  by [Samantha Cooney](/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 23, 2018 3:20 PM CUT [Greta Gerwig](http://time.com/5090962/golden-globes-cristina-ehrlich-interview-black-dresses-protest/ "undefined") was nominated for a Best Director Oscar for[ _Lady Bird_](http://time.com/5006939/lady-bird-captures-joy-pain-coming-of-age/ "undefined") on Tuesday morning — only the fifth woman to be recognized in the category in the award’s 90-year history. Gerwig is the only woman nominated in the category for the 90th Academy Awards this year, despite [calls](https://twitter.com/MrGChristopher/status/955806490077605888 "undefined") for the Academy to [recognize](https://twitter.com/FilmFatale%5FNYC/status/953853442291830784 "undefined") _Mudbound_ director Dee Rees and _Wonder Woman_ director [Patty Jenkins](http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2017-patty-jenkins-runner-up/ "undefined"). Just [7% of directors](http://time.com/5092235/female-best-director-golden-globes/ "undefined") of the top 250 highest-grossing domestic films of 2016 were women, according to a study released earlier this month. Women of color make up an even [smaller a percentage of directors](http://time.com/5087673/film-directors-diversity-report/ "undefined"). Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win a directing Oscar for 2008’s _The Hurt Locker_. Before Bigelow’s win, only Lina Wertmuller _(Seven Beauties_), Jane Campion (_The Piano_) and Sofia Coppola (_Lost in Translation_) had been nominated. Until Tuesday, no female director had been nominated in the category since Bigelow won. _Lady Bird_ has [received critical acclaim](http://www.businessinsider.com/lady-bird-greta-gerwig-review-2017-12 "undefined"). Gerwig landed a Directors Guild nomination and a best directing nomination at the Critics’ Choice Awards. But Gerwig was [left out](http://time.com/5092235/female-best-director-golden-globes/ "undefined") of the directing nominees at the Golden Globes. At the Jan. 7 ceremony, Natalie Portman presented the Best Director award and called out its “[all-male nominees](http://time.com/5092079/natalie-portman-golden-globes-male-nominees/ "undefined").” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5114284/greta-gerwig-oscar-nomination/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5114284/greta-gerwig-oscar-nomination/"},"headline":"Greta Gerwig Is Only the Fifth Woman to Be Nominated for a Best Director Oscar","datePublished":"2018-01-23T15:20:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:58:41.448Z","description":"She was nominated for 'Lady Bird'","url":"https://time.com/5114284/greta-gerwig-oscar-nomination/","keywords":["awards","movies","Hollywood","Oscars"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea941198ed398e2a/69877820428a9e240ecc6647/458352874.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltea941198ed398e2a/69877820428a9e240ecc6647/458352874.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"11th Annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards - Arrivals","caption":"11th Annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund Awards - Arrivals","creditText":"Gary Gershoff—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/awards/","name":"awards"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5114284/greta-gerwig-oscar-nomination/","name":"Greta Gerwig Is Only the Fifth Woman to Be Nominated for a Best Director Oscar"}}]}] ```