Reference: BFCA (Broadcast Film Critics Association) – DGA (Directors Guild of America) – GG (Golden Globes)

• 1 – Chloé Zhao for Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures) – GG, BAFTA, BFCA, DGA

• 2 – David Fincher for Mank (Netflix) – BFCA, DGA, GG

• 3 – Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman (Focus Features) – BFCA, DGA, GG

• 4 – Lee Isaac Chung for Minari (A24) – BAFTA, BFCA, DGA

• 5 – Thomas Vinterberg for Another Round (Samuel Goldwyn Mayer) – BAFTA

Is anyone not predicting Chloé Zhao? If she somehow doesn’t win, it’ll be not just the biggest upset of the night, but one of the biggest in Oscar history. But that isn’t going to happen. Zhao swept the critics circles and then swept the bigger awards ceremonies. The last time someone swept this hard was Heath Ledger for ‘The Dark Knight’.

There’s lots of history being made with these nominees. Chloé Zhao is just waiting to become the second female winner in Best Director. With Emerald Fennell, this marks a first year in which there is more then one female director nominated. First American-Asian person to be nominated. First year in which two Asian people are nominated. Unlike last years very white and male list of nominees, three of which were American, it’s very refreshing to see a year in which we have a nice level of diversity. When we make room, nobody has to miss out!