【The Hitman: Blood Smells Like Roses】

The The Hitman: Blood Smells Like Roses92nd Academy Awards has received no small amount of criticism for its all-male list of Best Director nominees, despite directors such as Greta Gerwig and Lulu Wang being right there. Included among those critics isNatalie Portman, who used Sunday's red carpet as an opportunity to highlight this imbalance.

Wearing a black and gold Dior dress, Portman draped herself in a black cape embroidered with the surnames of eight female directors who went unacknowledged at this year's Oscars.

"I wanted to recognise the women who were not recognised for their incredible work this year in my subtle way," Portman said.

The names running down the seam of her cape from top to bottom were Hustlers' Lorene Scafaria, The Farewell's Lulu Wang, Little Women's Greta Gerwig, Atlantics' Mati Diop, A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood's Marielle Stiles Heller, Queen & Slim's Melina Matsoukas, Honey Boy's Alma Har'el, and Portrait of a Lady on Fire's Céline Sciamma.

These directors made wonderful films which garnered both audience and critical acclaim, so it's disappointing that not one of them was nominated for the Best Director Oscar.

Disappointing, but considering the state of the industry, unsurprising.

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This isn't the first time Portman has spoken up at an award ceremony to advocate for female directors. Presenting the award for Best Director at the 2018 Golden Globes, she reminded the audience of the industry's shortcomings with a simple, pointed sentence: "And here are the all-male nominees."

Sadly, as Portman's couture points out, little has changed since. Hollywood is good at making shocked, supportive noises about diversity, but actual change is still fairly slow.

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