Natalie Portman expressed her discontent with the lack of female representation in the nominations for Best Director at the 2026 Oscars. The actress spoke about the issue during her time at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, where she presented her new film The Gallerist, directed by Cathy Yan.
Speaking to Variety, the artist pointed out that, in her opinion, many of the most notable films of the last year were made by women, but they did not receive the expected recognition in the awards season.
“Many of the best films I saw this year were made by women. There were barriers at all levels, because many were not recognized at the time of the awards,” she noted.
Natalie Portman mentioned specific titles such as Sorry Baby, Left-Handed Girl, Hedda and The Testament of Ann Lee, productions that, she said, have been well received by the public, but were left out of the main categories.
In this year’s Best Director nominations, Chloé Zhao is the only woman included for her work on Hamnet.The category is completed by Josh Safdie for Marty Supreme, Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another, Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value and Ryan Coogler for Sinners.
Furthermore, Hamnet is the only film directed by a woman among the ten candidates for Best Picture.
Portman also referred to the structural difficulties that women filmmakers face in carrying out their projects.
“Even when you overcome the barriers of getting financing, which is already more difficult, or entering festivals, which is also more difficult, every step of the way is more complicated. We still have a lot of work to do,” he added.
Despite this diagnosis, the 44-year-old actress highlighted the positive aspects of working in environments led by women.”With great joy, working together. It is a very special process to be in community with women on a shoot,” she said.
That experience was central to The Gallerist, a dark comedy thriller directed by Cathy Yan and co-starring Jenna Ortega, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sterling K. Brown and Da’Vine Joy Randolph.
The film, one of the official selections of Sundance 2026, follows the story of a desperate gallerist who tries to sell the body of a dead man as a work of art during Art Basel in Miami.
In addition to The Gallerist, Natalie Portman has another notable project this year in the awards season.The actress lends her voice to Arc, a futuristic animated film that earned a 2026 Oscar nomination in the Best Animated Film category, after its premiere at the Cannes Festival last year.
In the film, the artist plays the mother of Iris, a girl who becomes friends with Arco after a time trip goes wrong.
In a recent interview with People, Portman commented that Arco generated “interesting conversations” with her children, Aleph, 14, and Amalia, 8.
The actress explained that the story addresses topics such as climate change, family dynamics and the possible solutions imagined by the children in the story.“It was incredible to see her with them,” he said.
