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'Barbie' director, Sacramento native Greta Gerwig snubbed for director Oscar

Gerwig’s “Barbie” was nominated for eight Oscars total, including best picture. Other nominations include those for acting, screenplay, original song and design.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento native Greta Gerwig was not nominated Tuesday in the Oscars’ best director category.

Gerwig’s “Barbie” was nominated for eight Oscars, including best picture; best supporting actress (America Ferrera), best supporting actor (Ryan Gosling), best adapted screenplay, two for best original song (“I’m Just Ken” and “What Was I Made For?”), best achievement in production design and best achievement in costume design.

The best adapted screenplay nomination was picked up by co-authors Gerwig and her longtime partner Noah Baumbach.

Mark S. Allen, who covers all things entertainment for ABC10, said he is disappointed Gerwig was not nominated in the directing category. 

"I’m with best supporting actress nominee America Ferrera in saying that I’m incredibly disappointed; however, having been front row to witness a non-reaction in Greta to similar situations in the past, she’s just moving forward making more game changing movies," Allen said. "She’ll likely make another 144 billion at the box office before she even ponders the snub.”

Allen said he was personally stunned by the snub.

"('Barbie' is) arguably one of the most important movies of the century, financially and culturally, and for her not to be grouped with its best picture nomination leaves me with shock and awe," he said.

Credit: mark s allen
Greta Gerwig at Oscars

In 2018, Gerwig became the first woman in eight years nominated for best director with “Lady Bird.” At the time, only five women had ever been nominated.

As of the 96th Oscars March 10, women will have earned only nine nominations total in the category, and three have won: Jane Campion for “The Power of the Dog” in 2022, Chloé Zhao for “Nomadland” in 2021 and Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker” in 2010.

On Tuesday, Justine Triet earned the most recent director nomination for a woman in the category with the French film, “Anatomy of a Fall.”

“Barbie” nabbed two Golden Globe wins Jan. 7, including one for best original song with Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell’s “What Was I Made For?” and one in its newest cinematic and box office achievement category. The movie was nominated for nine Golden Globes total, including one for best director.

Margot Robbie was not among Tuesday’s lead actress Oscar nominees, but she snagged a producer nomination in the best picture category. Robbie previously earned a “Barbie” nomination for best performance by a female actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy, at the Golden Globes.

The film’s best picture Oscar nomination Tuesday pegs Gerwig as the first female director to have three of her films nominated in that category, according to Time Magazine.

Her first Oscar-nominated film, “Lady Bird,” was inspired by Gerwig’s experiences at St. Francis High School, an all-girls, Catholic institution in Sacramento.

“Lady Bird” did not win any Oscars in 2018. Gerwig’s best adapted screenplay nod Tuesday brings her career-total to four Oscar nominations.

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