Greta Gerwig’s solo directorial debut is moving full steam ahead into awards season. The National Board of Review (NBR) has named Gerwig Best Director for “Lady Bird,” Deadline reports. A woman hasn’t received the honor since 2012 when Kathryn Bigelow won for “Zero Dark Thirty.”
The acclaimed coming-of-age dramedy follows Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson (Saoirse Ronan), a Sacramento-based teen who’s desperate to attend college in New York City. Laurie Metcalf (“Getting On”) co-stars as her mother. NBR named Metcalf Best Supporting Actress. Both she and Ronan are considered frontrunners in the Oscar race. Meryl Streep won Best Actress honors from NBR for portraying the first female publisher of a major American newspaper in “The Post.”
“Lady Bird” — which just made history as the best-reviewed film ever on Rotten Tomatoes — was among NBR’s Top 10 Movies. It’s the only woman-directed film to make the cut. “Loving Vincent,” co-directed by Dorota Kobiela, was the sole film with a woman helmer to land on the Top 10 Independent Movies list. The world’s first fully-painted feature film explores the life and death of Vincent van Gogh.
As is usually the case, female filmmakers fared better in the documentary category, where two of the Top Five Documentaries are directed or co-directed by women: Lili Fini Zanuck’s “Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars” and “Faces Places,” co-helmed by Agnès Varda.
“Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot will receive the Spotlight Award.
Check out all of the female winners below, with a list adapted from Deadline. The 2017 honorees will be celebrated at the upcoming National Board of Review awards gala, set to take place January 9 in New York.
BEST DIRECTOR
Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird
BEST ACTRESS
Meryl Streep, The Post
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
TOP FOREIGN FILMS
Summer 1993 (Directed by Carla Simón)
SPOTLIGHT AWARD
Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins and actress Gal Gadot
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION (tie)
Angelina Jolie’s First They Killed My Father
TOP FIVE DOCUMENTARIES
Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars (Directed by Lili Fini Zanuck)
Faces Places (Co-Directed by Agnès Varda)
TOP 10 MOVIES
Lady Bird (Directed by Greta Gerwig)
TOP 10 INDEPENDENT MOVIES
Loving Vincent (Co-Directed by Dorota Kobiela)
