[GregT] As I mentioned on Grant's blog a while back, this isn't an Academy bias against female directors (at least not at Oscar time, anyway). It's a reflection of the unfortunate fact that there just aren't many top-tier female directors. The bias is clearly at an earlier level, stopping them from receiving the attention, the budgets, and the support they need to make films in the first place. When we went down the list of notable female directors a huge number of them had an "in" - a father or a partner in the business. Jane Campion is a rare exception. Amy Heckerling is another, though hardly Oscars material.

So where would the Oscars go? Should Yentl have beaten Terms of Endearment in 1983? Maybe. It should probably at least have been nominated. Should The Piano have beaten Schindler's List in 1994? Surely not; that was decided before it started. Should Lost In Translation have beaten Return of the King in 2004? I loved both films but Return of the King is the superior film, among other reasons for not relying solely on a stunning performance from a single actor.