Oscars 2023: A Glimpse Into The Significant Achievements Of Women So Far

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Since the inception of the Oscars in 1929, only a handful of women have been nominated for Best Picture. In fact, it wasn’t until 2010 that a woman was even nominated for Best Director. These statistics are dismal, to say the least.
But despite these challenges in the entertainment industry, there have been a number of significant achievements by women at the Oscars over the years.

As the 95th Academy Awards which is set to take place on March 12, 2023, draws nearer, it coincidentally falls within the same week as the 2023 International Women’s Day, underscoring the importance of honoring women’s contributions to society and in the Oscars.

Although there are still far fewer female winners than male winners, casting a trail on the achievements of women in Hollywood and the impact they have had on the business of film through their honors at the Oscars is worthwhile, especially at this time when it is critical to highlight historical moments that inspire the next generation.

Ahead, we will take a look at some of these achievements and the women who made them possible, as we eagerly await this year’s ceremony in just a few hours.

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A photo showing Janet Gaynor receiving the Academy Award for best actress in the film Sunny Side Up on Feb. 7, 1929.

In 1929, Janet Gaynor became the first female to receive the Best Actress Oscar at the inaugural Oscars presentation. Gaynor, born in Philadelphia in 1906 was the only woman honored at the gala, highlighting the discrimination in the honors at the time. Despite this history, the Oscars’ importance has increased over the course of their numerous iterations.

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In 1983,  the American songwriter and performer, Sainte-Marie won an Oscar for penning the song “Up Where We Belong” from the motion picture “An Officer and a Gentleman” at the 55th Oscars ceremony becoming the first indigenous person to bag the award. Along with Will Jennings and Jack Nitzsche, the song’s co-writers, Sainte-Marie received the Best Original Song honor that year.

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For her portrayal of Leticia Musgrove in “Monster Ball,” Halle Berry won the Oscar Award for Best Actress in 2001. Prior to her win and even to date, no Black woman had ever won the Best Actress award. So, thanks to her victory. The actress remarked in her Oscars-winning speech, “It’s for the women that stand behind me, Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, and Vivica Fox, and it’s for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened. Thank you. I’m so honored.”

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For her significant work on “The Hurt Locker,” a film about an American bomb squad that neutralized explosives in Iraq in 2004, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win an Oscar Award for best director on March 7, 2010. Prior to her win, only three women had previously been nominated for an Oscar for best director: Sofia Coppola for 2003’s “Lost in Translation,” Jane Campion for 1993’s “The Piano,” and Lina Wertmueller for 1975’s “Seven Beauties.”

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Brenda Chapman has pioneered several positions throughout her career in the movies. First, she became the first female director of a major studio’s animated film The Prince of Egypt from DreamWorks Animation in 1998. Then, with Mark Andrews and Steve Purcell, the American animator, screenwriter, and storyboard artist co-directed the Disney/Pixar movie Brave in 2012, making history as the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.  

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Mia Neal, Jamika Wilson, and Sergio Lopez-Rivera, winners of Best Makeup and Hairstyling for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

In the movie “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” hairstylist Mia Neal and makeup artist Jamika Wilson collaborated and at the 2021 Oscars ceremony, the two accepted the Academy Award for the film’s Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Wilson and Neal’s victory was historic because it was the first time African women had taken home the Best Makeup and Hairstyling prize. They received the honor along with makeup artist Sergio Lopez-Rivera.

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By winning the Academy Award for Best Director in 2021 for her movie “Nomadland,” director Chloé Zhao made history. The film also took home awards for Best Film and Best Actress (Frances McDormand). With her win, Zhao became only the second woman in Oscar history and the first woman of color to win Best Director.

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During the 94th Academy Awards, which was held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Jane Campion received the Oscar for best director for the western ‘The Power of the Dog’, which starred Benedict Cumberbatch, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Kirsten Dunst. After Kathryn Bigelow in 2010 and Chloé Zhao in 2021, she is the third woman to get the honor.

In addition to the Silver Lion award for best director at the Venice film festival, Campion has received a number of honors for her role in the movies, including best director at the Baftas, Golden Globes, and Directors Guild of America awards. She won her first Oscar for best original writing for ‘The Piano’ in 1994. She won the Oscar for the best original screenplay in 1994 for The Piano, a movie for which she was also nominated for best director but fell short of Steven Spielberg’s ‘Schindler’s List.’

In light of the upcoming 2023 Oscars, it is significant to note that only a small number of women have received nominations, with the best actress category being Cate Blanchett, Ana de Armas, Andrea Riseborough, Michelle Williams, and Michelle Yeoh. Recognition of her performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, a 2022 Marvel movie that has gained five nominations this year, earned Angela Bassett a Best Supporting Actress nomination for the 2023 Oscars. Stephanie Hsu and Hong Chau are also competing in the same category as Basset.

Although there is certainly room for improvement in diversity and inclusivity at the Oscars, women have made a great and deserving contribution to the Oscars and the film industry as a whole.