Natalie Portman isn’t satisfied with her 2026 Oscar nominations.
Portman, 44, who was promoting her new film “The Gallerist” at the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, accused the Academy of ignoring films directed by several women.
“Many of the best movies I’ve seen this year were made by women,” the actress told Variety. “We found that there were barriers at every level because so many films went unrecognized at the awards show: between “Sorry Baby” and “The Left-Handed Girl,” “Hedda” and “The Testament of Ang Lee.”
“So I think there are some extraordinary movies this year that are being enjoyed and loved by a lot of people, but they’re not getting the praise they deserve,” she continued.
Portman also mentioned how difficult it is to get movies made even before awards season.
“Even if you get past the barrier of getting a loan, it’s harder, it’s harder to get into festivals, every step of the way is harder, and when you get out there it’s amazing and you don’t get the attention,” she explained. “We still have a lot of work to do.”
“But it’s such a joy and it’s such a special process to work so collaboratively with each other. It’s such a special process to build community with the women on set,” she added.
Portman collaborated with female director Cathy Yan on The Gallerist, which also stars Jenna Ortega, Sterling K. Brown, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Charli XCX and Zach Galifianakis. Portman is also the film’s producer.
When the 2026 Oscar nominees were announced on Thursday, the Academy largely ignored female directors.
Chloé Zhao (“Hamnet”) is the only woman nominated for Best Director.
In the Best Picture race, Hamnet was the only film directed by a woman among the 10 nominated films.
Meanwhile, there is only one female director in the Best International Feature Film category, Kauser Ben Hania’s The Voice of Hind Rajab.
Portman won an Oscar in 2026 for co-producing the film Arco, and was nominated for Best Animated Feature.
She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2011 for Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in 2005 for Closer and Best Actress in 2017 for Jackie.
Portman has a history of standing up for women at award shows.
At the 2020 Oscars, she wore a gold dress with a black cape embroidered with the names of female directors ignored by the Academy that year, including Greta Gerwig, director of Little Women.
In 2018, Portman infamously criticized the Golden Globes for excluding women from the Best Director category while presenting the award alongside Ron Howard.
“And here are all the male candidates,” she said on stage.
