Award season is often the most frustrating time for Women and Hollywood, with so many nominations and prizes distributed to the same stubbled faces we see every few years.
The European Film Awards and the Moet British Independent Film Awards are switching up the trend just the tiniest bit, with nominations going to one female director apiece.
Looking at the European Film Awards, Oscar-winning Danish director Susanne Bier’s Love is All You Need, starring Trine Dyrholm and Pierce Brosnan, earned a nod for Best Comedy. First-time filmmakers Valeria Golino (Miele) and Gabriela Pichler (Eat Sleep Die) also received nominations in the Best Discovery category for newcomers. No women appeared in the Best Film, Best Director, or Best Screenwriter categories.
Female filmmakers — or at least, director Clio Barnard — fared much better in the British Independent Film Awards nominations. Barnard’s The Selfish Giant earned the second-highest number of nominations this year, including those in the categories for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress. Tina Gharavi (I Am Nasrine) and Haifaa al-Mansour (Wadjda) also garnered nods for Best Debut Director and Best International Film, respectively.
Scroll below for the full list of the women nominated for the EFA and the BIFA:
European Film Awards
EUROPEAN COMEDY
Susanne Bier — Love Is All You Need
EUROPEAN ACTRESS
Veerle Baetens — The Broken Circle Breakdown
Luminita Gheorghiu — Child’s Pose
Keira Knightley — Anna Karenina
Barbara Sukowa — Hannah Arendt
Naomi Watts — The Impossible
EUROPEAN DISCOVERY
Valeria Golino — Miele
Gabriela Pichler — Eat Sleep Die
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British Independent Film Awards
BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
The Selfish Giant
DIRECTOR
Clio Barnard — The Selfish Giant
DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD FOR DEBUT DIRECTOR
Tina Gharavi — I Am Nasrine
SCREENPLAY
Clio Barnard — The Selfish Giant
ACTRESS
Judi Dench — Philomena
Lindsay Duncan — Le Week-end
Scarlett Johansson — Under the Skin
Felicity Jones — The Invisible Woman
Saoirse Ronan — How I Live Now
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Siobhan Finneran — The Selfish Giant
Shirley Henderson — Filth
Imogen Poots — The Look Of Love
Kristin Scott Thomas — The Invisible Woman
Mia Wasikowska — The Double
MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER
Harley Bird — How I Live Now
Caity Lotz — The Machine
Chloe Pirrie — Shell
ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
The Selfish Giant
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Shaheen Baig — Casting — Starred Up
Amy Hubbard — Casting — The Selfish Giant
Mica Levi — Music — Under the Skin
Justine Wright — Editing — Locke
DOCUMENTARY
The Great Hip Hop Hoax (dir. Jeanie Finlay)
INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM
Wadjda (dir. Haifaa al-Mansour)
