Jane Campion made Oscar history today by becoming the first woman to be nominated for Best Director twice. While ‘Power of the Dog’, which leads Oscar nominations with 12 nods, helped her get there, her previous entry had been ‘The Piano’, for which ultimately won in the best original screenplay category. 

The 67-year-old is the eighth woman to break through in the Best Director category and the first woman who’s been nominated twice in the screenplay category. 

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2021 was a milestone moment for women breaking the glass ceiling at the Oscars, with Chloé Zhao the ‘Nomadland’ filmmaker and Emerald Fennell, the director of ‘Promising Young Woman’, becoming the first two female directors recognized in the Best Director category in one year.

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They became the sixth and seventh female directors to be nominated, following Lina Wertmüller for the 1975 movie ‘Seven Beauties’, Jane Campion for the 1993 film ‘The Piano’, Sofia Coppola for her 2003 entry ‘Lost in Translation’, Kathryn Bigelow who is the only winner in the category with 2008’s ‘The Hurt Locker’, and Greta Gerwig who was nominated for 2017’s ‘Lady Bird’.

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Zhao became the first woman to receive four nominations in one year, snagging nods for Directing, Editing, Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay. She also became the first female Asian to be recognized for Editing. Zhao not only became the first woman of colour to be nominated for Best Director but also became the first to win at the Oscars. 

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Along with that, Fennell was the third woman to be recognized with three nominations in a single year. She followed Coppola, and Fran Walsh, who was nominated for and won Best Picture, Original Song and Adapted Screenplay for ‘Lord of the Rings: Return of the King’. Fennell also had the honour of being the first woman nominated for her feature film directorial debut. Her film ‘Promising Young Woman’ went on to win Best Original Screenplay.

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Oscars 2022 is on March 27.