Culture secretary Nicky Morgan suggests end to all-male shortlists after Oscars diversity row

'It’s not enough just to wring their hands,' says cabinet minister

(AFP via Getty Images)

Culture secretary Nicky Morgan has criticised the Oscars for the failure to include any female directors in its nominees and suggested the awards body should rule out all-male shortlists.

Amid a row over lack of diversity in the Academy nominations, Baroness Morgan said "it's not enough [for those in charge] just to wring their hands" about the failure for any women to be considered for Best Director

Actor Issa Rae, who presented the 2020 nominees list, quipped, "Congratulations to those men", when she read out the names, which failed to include Greta Gerwig for Little Women, and Lorene Scafaria for Hustlers, both of which were critically and commercially successful.

Baroness Morgan, who became a peer in December after standing down as an MP, said those running the nominations needed to act to increase the number of women in line for the top prize.

Asked if there nominations system was flawed, she told The House magazine: "Frankly, those running the Oscar nominations need to be saying – it’s not enough just to leave it to others to come up with director nominations.

"If they’re concerned about the lack of diversity - this is not the first year this has happened - they need to be specifically saying, ‘We want there to be more women’.

“When we were running a select committee, we had to say specifically, supported by the staff who were great, ‘We’re not having all-male panels’. There are lots of people now who won’t speak on all-male panels, for example.

“I know sometimes people think that’s tokenistic, but you’re never going to change perceptions. If we want more female director talent, they need to see existing female directors being rewarded.”

Asked if she wanted the Oscars to rule out all male shortlists, Baroness Morgan said: “That’s what’s happening elsewhere. Look, it’s not for me. Again, the Oscar processes, how it works and who is doing it and all the rest of it.

“Whether there is a very strong nudge or a period of time in which they say, ‘Right, for the next five years we’re going to make sure that we don’t have all-male best director nominees’, but there’s got to be something.

“It’s not enough just to wring their hands. Surely 2021 has got to be the year where there is a better more diverse set of nominees.”

Kathryn Bigelow remains the only woman to win the Best Director award for the Hurt Locker in 2010.

This year's Oscars has also attracted controversy for lack of diversity. Cynthia Erivo is the only black actor to make the shortlists for her role in Harriet, a biopic of abolitionist Harriet Tubman.

South Korean director Bong Joon-ho is the only non-white director to make it onto the shortlist for his comedy thriller Parasite.