--- title: Steven Spielberg on Natalie Portman's Best Director Burn description: Steven Spielberg has a few female nominee suggestions for the Academy to consider for Best Director at this year's Oscars. canonical: https://time.com/5097459/steven-spielberg-natalie-portman-best-director-burn/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-10T20:24:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:49:53.399Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Steven Spielberg Responds to Natalie Portman's Best Director Burn With Some Oscar Suggestions og:description: "We have some amazing women that have come forward" og:url: https://time.com/5097459/steven-spielberg-natalie-portman-best-director-burn/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5811e4059f98c881/6988f7d9096a94b1f86a10c9/steven-spielberg-best-director.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Steven-Spielberg-The-Post-Premiere og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Steven Spielberg Responds to Natalie Portman's Best Director Burn With Some Oscar Suggestions twitter:description: "We have some amazing women that have come forward" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5811e4059f98c881/6988f7d9096a94b1f86a10c9/steven-spielberg-best-director.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Steven Spielberg Responds to Natalie Portman's Best Director Burn With Some Oscar Suggestions  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 10, 2018 8:24 PM CUT  Steven Spielberg attends 'The Post' European Premeire at Odeon Leicester Square on January 10, 2018 in London, England. Steven Spielberg attends 'The Post' European Premeire at Odeon Leicester Square on January 10, 2018 in London, England.Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage  by [Megan McCluskey](/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jan 10, 2018 8:24 PM CUT [Steven Spielberg](http://time.com/5073510/the-post-movie-review/ "undefined") has a few female nominee suggestions for the Academy to consider for [Best Director](http://time.com/5092564/golden-globes-2018-barbara-streisand-female-best-director/ "undefined") at this year’s Oscars. When asked about [Natalie Portman’s apparent jab](http://time.com/5092079/natalie-portman-golden-globes-male-nominees/ "undefined") at the Golden Globes’ all-male field of Best Director candidates, Spielberg was quick to name a few women he thinks are deserving of the Oscar equivalent, including _Mudbound’s_ Dee Rees and _Lady Bird’s_ Greta Gerwig. “There’s also a watershed happening right now, slowly, maybe not fast enough, for women directors,” he told [_Entertainment Tonight_](http://www.etonline.com/steven-spielberg-responds-natalie-portmans-best-directors-dig-golden-globes-exclusive-93986 "undefined")at Tuesday’s National Board of Review Awards. “I mean you have Patty Jenkins. We have some amazing women that have come forward, you know _Mudbound_ and _Lady Bird_. This is a pretty incredible year, and I think you’ll be seeing some nominations. I’m predicting at the Oscars this year for a woman director, if not several.” Portman was applauded by many for seeming to call out the Hollywood Foreign Press Association while presenting the award for Best Director at Sunday’s Globes ceremony. “And here are the all-male nominees,” she deadpanned to a cheering audience. Spielberg was nominated in the category for his work on _The Post_, but ultimately lost out to _The Shape of Water_ director Guillermo del Toro. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5097459/steven-spielberg-natalie-portman-best-director-burn/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5097459/steven-spielberg-natalie-portman-best-director-burn/"},"headline":"Steven Spielberg Responds to Natalie Portman's Best Director Burn With Some Oscar Suggestions","datePublished":"2018-01-10T20:24:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T18:49:53.399Z","description":"\"We have some amazing women that have come forward\"","url":"https://time.com/5097459/steven-spielberg-natalie-portman-best-director-burn/","keywords":["awards","movies","golden globes","Oscars","steven spielberg","natalie portman","awards season","golden globes 2018","Oscars 2018"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5811e4059f98c881/6988f7d9096a94b1f86a10c9/steven-spielberg-best-director.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5811e4059f98c881/6988f7d9096a94b1f86a10c9/steven-spielberg-best-director.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Steven-Spielberg-The-Post-Premiere","caption":"Steven Spielberg attends 'The Post' European Premeire at Odeon Leicester Square on January 10, 2018 in London, England.","creditText":"Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/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/5097459/steven-spielberg-natalie-portman-best-director-burn/","name":"Steven Spielberg Responds to Natalie Portman's Best Director Burn With Some Oscar Suggestions"}}]}] ```