10 Shocking Problems With How The Oscar Voting Works

8. It is Largely Male Dominated

In the past 86 years of the Oscars, only one woman €” Kathryn Bigelow €” has ever received the award for Best Director, namely for her direction of The Hurt Locker in 2008. This year the category lacks any female nominations. Nancy Schreiber of the Academy's cinematography branch comments on the issue: "You would think that in this day and age, there would be a little bit more equality across the board, but that's not the case." With their problems mirroring issues within the industry as a whole, we can not solely criticise the Academy for its prevalent demographic flaws. However, with 90% of five branches being occupied by men, perhaps there is room for improvement? Writer-director Phil Alden Robinson, an Academy governor, addressed the issue in 2012: "We absolutely recognise that we need to do a better job" he stated. "We start off with one hand tied behind our back... If the industry as a whole is not doing a great job in opening up its ranks, it's very hard for us to diversify our membership."