Oscars 2020: Natalie Portman's black cape honours snubbed women directors

Natalie Portman is disappointed in the Academy for once again nominating only men in the Best Director category.

Natalie Portman walked the red carpet for the 92nd Academy Awards at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre, on Sunday, in a stunning black gown by Dior with a sheer, gold-embroidered outer layer. But, what grabbed the most attention was the golden detailing on her long black cape.

To take a stand against the jury of the academy awards and to pay a tribute to the snubbed women directors, the Oscar-winning actress had the inside edge of her custom-Dior cape embroidered with the names of women directors who didn't get a nod in the top directing category. "Hustlers" director Lorene Scafaria and "The Farewell" director Lulu Wang were some of the female directors named in Portman's cape.

Greta Gerwig, who had been tipped to get a nomination for "Little Women" but didn't make the final cut, was also named on the cape. If nominated, Gerwig would have been the first woman in the Oscar history to be nominated for the best director twice.

Other names on the cape were- Marielle Heller for "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood;" Mati Diop for "Atlantics;" Melina Matsoukas for "Queen & Slim;" Alma Har'el for "Honey Boy;" and Céline Sciamma for "Portrait of a Lady on Fire."

"I wanted to recognize the women who were not recognized for their incredible work this year in my subtle way," Portman told the Los Angeles Times on the red carpet.

The all-men directors nominated in the category are Martin Scorsese for "The Irishman," Todd Phillips for "Joker," Sam Mendes for "1917," Quentin Tarantino for "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," and Bong Joon-ho for "Parasite."

This is not the first time Portman has snubbed a Hollywood award show for overlooking women directors. Earlier in 2018, when the "Black Swan" actress was invited with Ron Howard to present the best director award at the Golden Globes, she introduced the category with "Here are all the male-nominees," drawing in gasps and applause from the audience.

In the decades-long history of Oscars awards, only five women have ever been nominated in the best director category, and Kathryn Bigelow is the only one to ever win, for her 2008 film "The Hurt Locker."

Actress Issa Rae, who was invited to announce the best director nominations for the 92nd Oscars last month, had also thrown a polite shade at the voters by saying: "Congratulations to those men."