Golden Globe Nominations 2021: Three women nominated for Best Director for the first time in awards' history

Chloe Zhao, Regina King and Emerald Fennell receive nominations

From left, Emerald Fennell, Chloe Zhao and Regina King nominated for Best Director at the Golden Globes this year. The first time three women are nominated for the award. 

For the first time in the history of the Golden Globes, three female directors have been nominated in the Best Director category - Regina King for One Night in Miami, Chloe Zhao for Nomadland and Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman.

The Golden Globes revealed its 2021 nominees during a live stream on Wednesday, hosted by actresses Sarah Jessica Parker and Taraji P Henson.

Throughout its history, the Hollywood Foreign Press Associations had only nominated five women for the Best Director award, and the category has never seen more than one women nominated in any one year. Barbra Streisand is the only woman to win for Yentl in 1984.

One Night in Miami, starring Leslie Odom Jr, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Aldis Hodge and Eli Goree, is King's directorial debut. The Amazon Studios film tells the fictional story of a meeting between Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke that turned into a discussion about their roles in the civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Zhao's Nomadland, meanwhile, has already been sweeping up this awards season, winning four titles at the The National Society of Film Critics Awards in January. The film tells the story of Fern (McDormand), who loses her job in the recession and so sells her belongings following her husband's death and buys a van, embarking upon a journey through America as a nomad. The film is also nominated for Best Picture and for Best Screenplay. Fennell is also nominated for Best Screenplay.

Promising Young Woman also sees British actress Emerald Fennell make her directorial debut. With a cast starring Carey Mulligan and Bo Burnham, the film tells the story of smart and talented Cassie, who is leading a double life at night, before an unexpected encounter gives her the chance to right the wrongs of her past.

This year, nominations for Best Actress in a Drama include Carey Mulligan in Promising Young Woman, Frances McDormand in Nomadland, Vanessa Kirby in Pieces of a Woman, Viola Davis in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and Andra Day in The United States vs. Billie Holiday.

The 78th annual awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 28, a date that had been pushed back because fo the pandemic. The event will be co-hosted by Tina Fey in New York and Amy Poehler in Beverly Hills, marking the first bi-coastal event for the Globes.

At the event, Jane Fonda will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award, while Norman Lear will receive the Carol Burnett Award.

Find the full list of nominees for the Golden Globes 2021 here.