The 2020 Oscars happened today and Natalie Portman has already made waves with her impactful statement cape. Portman walked the red carpet at the 92nd Academy Awards wearing a stunning floor-length black Dior dress. Overlaying her dress was her black cape that did more than just what a cape is intended to do. Embroidered in beautiful gold thread, it featured the names of several female directors that were snubbed from recognising their great work this year.
The names featured on her cape.
- Lorene Scafaria – Hustlers
- Lulu Wang – The Farewell
- Greta Gerwig – Little Women
- Marielle Heller – A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood
- Melina Matsoukas – Queen & Slim
- Alma Har’el – Honey Boy
- Céline Sciamma – Portrait of a Lady on Fire
- Mati Diop – Atlantics
When a journalist on the red carpet asked Portman about her decision to wear this embroidered cape to the event, she replied saying,
I wanted to recognise the women who were not recognised for their incredible work this year in my subtle way.
Here’s the video –
The reason behind this.
The lack of recognition and diversity of female filmmakers at Oscars was the reason Portman decided to take a stand for it at the awards. And this isn’t even the first time this has happened. At the 2018 Golden Globe Awards, she was on stage with director Ron Howard to present the ‘Best Director’ award that had a list of only male nominees. She made sure to highlight the lack of female representation at such award shows by saying, “Here are all the male nominees.” Her calling out the industry was highly praised all around the world.
You do you, Natalie! We need more people to speak up about this and you’ve paved a strong way for all of us. Hoping to see the most deserving nominees at the next awards. Until then, follow @missmalinilifestyle for more such cool updates!