Greta Gerwig ended the all-male streak of Oscar nominations for best director Tuesday morning when she was named as a contender for the award during the Academy Award nominations announcement, according to Variety.
Gerwig, the directed the critically-acclaimed movie "Lady Bird," becoming the fifth woman to be nominated for the award, Variety stated. Others included Lina Wertmüller for "Seven Beauties" in 1977; Jane Campion for "The Piano" in 1994, Sofia Coppola for "Lost in Translation" in 2004; and Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker" in 2010.
Bigelow won the best directing and best picture Oscar in 2010 and Coppola took home the best original screenplay Academy Award in 2004.
"Between Patty Jenkins and Sofia Coppola and Maggie Betts and Kathryn Bigelow and Angelina Jolie — the number of women who are making really interesting films and the desire to shine a spotlight on them and us and women producers and directors and filmmakers and executives, that's the thing I’m heartened by," Gerwig told Variety's "Playback" podcast.
Variety said "Lady Bird" also was nominated for best picture, star Saoirse Ronan for best actress, costar Laurie Metcalf for best supporting actress, and Gerwig for best original screenplay.
She was joined in the best director category by Paul Thomas Anderson for "Phantom Thread;" Guillermo del Toro for "The Shape of Water," Christopher Nolan for "Dunkirk," and Jordan Peele for "Get Out."
"Lady Bird," the story about an artistically inclined 17-year-old girl coming of age in California, has made $39 million at the box office since being released in November, according to Box Office Mojo.
"It's been beyond anything I could have ever imagined," Gerwig told People magazine about the movie's critical and commercial success. "I genuinely can't believe what a warm response it's gotten, and it means so much to me because I've always wanted to be a writer and director, and to be embraced like this has been the thrill of my life.
"And it's great too because it makes it so much easier for me to make my next movie, and the next movie and the movie after that, and that’s what it's really all about," she continued.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.