The inclusion of two female film-makers – Chloe Zhao and Emerald Fennell – in the nominations for best director at this year’s Oscars has been hailed as historic. But two other women directors are also competing at the 2021 ceremony with their feature films.
Both The Man Who Sold His Skin, by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, and Bosnian director Jasmila Žbanić’s Quo Vadis, Aida? are nominated for the best international film award.
And at the Baftas, Quo Vadis, Aida? is competing in the same category, while Žbanić is in the running for best director.
Quo Vadis, Aida? is the story of a fictional UN interpreter, played by Jasna Đuričić, and her battle to save her family in the massacre at Srebrenica, where 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed in 1995 by Bosnian Serb forces. The film was funded by nine European countries, including Bosnia-Herzegovina.
