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Natalie Portman has criticized the Oscars for snubbing female directors in the 2026 nominations.
The actress, 44, called out the Academy, stating that there's still 'a lot of work to do', while promoting her new film The Gallerist, directed by Cathy Yan.
'So many of the best films I saw this year were made by women,' she said in a new interview with Variety during the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. 'You just see the barriers at every level because so many were not recognized at awards time.'
'Between Sorry Baby and Left-Handed Girl and Hedda and The Testament of Ann Lee... Extraordinary films this year that I think a lot of people are enjoying and loving, but are not getting the accolades that they deserve,' the Oscar winner went on.
Though Chloé Zhao's Hamnet landed eight Oscar nominations — including Best Picture and Best Director — Portman noticed that many other women were left out in the Best Director category.
Out of the 10 films competing for Best Picture, Hamnet is the only one directed by a woman.
Natalie Portman, 44, has criticized the Oscars for snubbing female directors in the 2026 nominations; Portman pictured on Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah
Others in the category include Josh Safdie for Marty Supreme, Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another, Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value and Ryan Coogler for Sinners.
Portman went on to discuss the challenges of getting a movie made.
'Even when you pass the barriers of getting your financing, which is harder, getting into festivals, which is harder. Every step of the road is harder, and then you're out and it's great, and then it also doesn't get the attention,' she said, concluding, 'We have a lot of work to do still.'
'But joyfully, with a lot of joy, working with each other,' she went on, adding, 'and it’s a very special process to be in community with women on set.'
Only three women have won the Best Director Oscar to date.
Zhao previously won for her film Nomadland in 2021. Kathryn Bigelow won for The Hurt Locker in 2010, while Jane Campion won for The Power of the Dog in 2022.
It is not the first time Portman has raised the issue of female directors being snubbed.
At the 2020 Oscars she wore a dress with a black cape that was embroidered with the names of female directors who were left out that year, including 'Little Women' director Greta Gerwig.
The Oscar winner called out the Academy, stating there's still 'a lot of work to do' in a new interview with Variety; She is pictured holding her Best Actress Oscar for Black Swan in 2011
'So many of the best films I saw this year were made by women. You just see the barriers at every level because so many were not recognized at awards time,' she added; Seen in 2025
Though Chloé Zhao's Hamnet landed eight Oscar nominations — including Best Picture and Best Director — Portman noticed that many other women were left out; Zhao seen at Sundance
Out of the 10 films competing for Best Picture, Hamnet is the only one directed by a woman; Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal pictured in a still from Hamnet
In 2018 she also called out the Golden Globes for the same issue, while presenting the Best Director award with Ron Howard.
'And here are all the male nominees,' she infamously said while onstage.
Portman is herself an Oscar winner, having taken home the Best Actress gong for her role in Black Swan at the 2011 Academy Awards.
She has also earned nominations for Closer (2005), Jackie (2017), and is nominated in the Best Animated Feature category as a producer this year for Arco.
Portman's new film, The Gallerist, is a dark comedy thriller also starring Jenna Ortega, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Sterling K. Brown and Da'Vine Joy Randolph.
It follows a gallery owner (played by Portman) who hatches a scheme to sell a dead man as art at Art Basel in Miami.
While at the Sundance Film Festival this weekend, Portman also led Hollywood's condemnation of a second fatal shooting by Department of Homeland Security agents in Minneapolis.
Intensive care nurse Alex Pretti, 37, was shot up to 10 times on Saturday as he lay on the ground while Customs and Border Protection agents tried to detain him.
Video showed him filming agents with his phone as they arrested a female protester, before he was suddenly tackled to the ground about 9am, and one agent started shooting.
It is not the first time Portman has raised the issue. At the 2020 Oscars she wore a dress with a cape embroidered with the names of female directors who were snubbed that year (pictured)
In 2018 she called out the Golden Globes while presenting the Best Director award with Ron Howard. 'And here are all the male nominees,' she infamously said while onstage
Portman and Olivia Wilde were two of numerous celebrities wearing 'ICE Out' pins at the festival this weekend.
Both expressed their dismay at the weeks-long immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and elsewhere, and support for protesters opposing it.
Portman said Americans were 'at a moment in our country's history that is quite devastating' during her Variety interview.
'It's really impossible not to talk about what is happening right now and the brutality of ICE and how it has to stop immediately,' she said.
'But also there's a beautiful community that Americans are showing right now. They're showing up for each other, protecting each other and fighting for their freedom.
'It's a bittersweet moment to celebrate something we're so proud of on the backdrop of our nation in pain.'
English (US) ·