Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao has claimed the US film industry is structurally incapable of fostering gender diversity, per theguardian.com. Speaking at the Palm Springs Film Festival, the Nomadland filmmaker addressed a damning new study revealing that only nine of the 111 directors behind 2025’s top 100 grossing films were women.
Zhao, whose latest film Hamnet is an awards-season frontrunner, argued that the industry’s rigid power structures reject “feminine consciousness,” a leadership style she defines by intuition and community rather than dominance. “It doesn’t fit into the current model,” Zhao remarked. “I feel very lucky that I had people in power who trusted that this way of leading was needed.”
The annual USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative report highlights a significant regression in Hollywood. In 2025, women helmed just 8.1% of top-grossing films, a sharp drop from 13.4% in 2024. Despite this decline, female-led projects saw commercial success; Nisha Ganatra’s Freakier Friday earned $94.2m, while Zhao’s Hamnet has taken $12m since its November US release.
Report author Stacy L. Smith noted that progress for women remains “fleeting.” While some point to recent political shifts and the rollback of diversity policies, Smith clarified that the 2025 slump was driven by executive greenlighting decisions made years prior.
As Hamnet opens in the UK this Friday, Zhao is positioned as a leading Oscar contender. Having already made history as the first woman of colour to win Best Director, she faces stiff competition from Ryan Coogler. If Coogler triumphs for Sinners, he would become the first Black filmmaker to win the category.
•Featured image: Chloé Zhao at the Critics Choice awards in Los Angeles at the weekend/Starbuck/AFF-USA/Shutterstock
