The statistics for women directors in the film industry are abysmal, but the statics for women composers are even worse. A recent study found that, of the 250 top-grossing films last year, only 2% boasted female composers.
Unfortunately, change has yet to arrive. Of the 114 films eligible for the Best Original Score prize at next year’s ceremony, only 6 (or 5%) were composed by women. Two of those six women-composed films (Anita and Belle) were directed by female filmmakers. Rachel Portman, who scored Belle and Dolphin Tale 2, is the only woman to be eligible for multiple movies. Portman is one of the three women who have ever won an Oscar for Best Original Score. The last female win in that category occurred 17 years ago for The Full Monty, composed by Anne Dudley.
The woman composer with the likeliest shot of being nominated this year is Mica Levi for Under the Skin. She recently picked up trophies for her wonderfully bizarre score at the European Film Awards and from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for Best Music/Score.
Here are the Oscar-eligible women composers for the 2015 Oscars:
“Anita,” Lili Haydn, composer
“Belle,” Rachel Portman, composer
“Cheatin’,” Nicole Renaud, composer
“Dolphin Tale 2,” Rachel Portman, composer
“The Hero of Color City,” Zoë Poledouris-Roché and Angel Roché, Jr., composers
“Under the Skin,” Mica Levi, composer