Barbra Streisand called “time’s up” for the lack of females behind the camera as she was told she remains the only woman ever to win a Golden Globe for directing.
Natalie Portman also levelled criticism at the Los Angeles awards ceremony on Sunday, pointing out no female directors were nominated on the night.
Five men crowded the best director category in which Globes organisers the Hollywood Foreign Press Association found no space for Greta Gerwig, despite her film Lady Bird going on to win best comedy movie.
Here to present our final award of the night is someone who needs no introduction… @BarbraStreisand! She introduces the nominees for Best Motion Picture – Drama. #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/Q946KYUjvH
— Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 8, 2018
The ceremony came after damning research was published detailing how Hollywood has failed to tackle its lack of women directors, with only 4% of the past decade’s top films being helmed by women.
Streisand, who won a best director Globe for Yentl in 1984, was brought to the stage to introduce the best drama category.
“Backstage I heard they said something about I was the only woman to get the best director award,” she said.
“And you know that was 1984 – that was 34 years ago. Folks, time’s up.
“We need more women directors and more women to be nominated for best director. There’s so many films out there that are so good and directed by women.”
Oscar-winner Portman introduced the nominees for best movie director alongside Ron Howard.
“And here are the all-male nominees,” she said to applause.
Research by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative found there was no meaningful improvement in the past decade for the proportion of women directing top-100 films.
Only eight women directed a top grossing film in 2017, one less than the high mark nine years previously.