Hillary Clinton Is ‘Disappointed’ by Lack of Female Director Oscar Nominees

Hillary Clinton is on hand at the Sundance Film Festival to promote director Nanette Burstein’s new docuseries, “Hillary,” which examines the politico’s journey toward the presidency and… well, we all know how that worked out. In any case, her spirits were high at the IndieWire Studio, presented by Dropbox, in Park City, where she discussed the film but also another issue that’s on everyone’s mind in the entertainment community: Why were no women directors featured among the 2020 Academy Award nominees?

“I am always fascinated by who gets nominated and who doesn’t, and having just worked with a superb woman director,” Clinton told IndieWire, gesturing to her filmmaker Burstein, “I was disappointed that there weren’t more women in the director slot to be nominated because I think that there were several that did incredibly good work. Like everybody else, I’ll tune in to see what happens.”

Burstein shared in her subject’s sentiment and championed “Little Women” director Greta Gerwig, who many feel was snubbed as a contender for the Best Director Academy Award. “I’m a big fan of ‘Little Women.’ I thought Greta Gerwig did an amazing job. I love ‘Jojo Rabbit.’ I love ‘Marriage Story,'” director Nanette Burstein said. She added of this year’s Oscar nominees, “I think there’s incredibly creative, human films that are original.”

Of the film, IndieWire’s TV Critic and Deputy Editor Ben Travers wrote in his review: “At its best, ‘Hillary’ isn’t just a defense of Hillary Clinton, but a nuanced examination of why we don’t yet have a female president. In clarifying how America’s evolving sexism affected one of the country’s most prominent female leaders, the Hulu docuseries uses Clinton’s history to illustrate what may have gone wrong in her failed 2016 presidential bid. Burstein utilizes more than 2,000 hours of campaign footage to form the series’ throughline, bouncing between the bumps in her campaign and the past events that shaped it.”

The IndieWire Studio at the Sundance Film Festival is open through Monday, January 27. Follow all coverage out of Sundance via IndieWire’s festival bible here.

Following the movie’s Sundance premiere, Hulu will release the four-part docuseries “Hillary” on Friday, March 6.