The category – which this year included Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg – has only ever been won by one woman, Barbra Streisand, and has not had a female nominee since Ava DuVernay’s nomination for Selma in 2014. Since 2000, only three women have been nominated – DuVernay, Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation in 2003 and Kathryn Bigelow, once in 2009 for The Hurt Locker and again in 2012 for Zero Dark Thirty.

This year’s nominees were Ridley Scott for All The Money In The World, Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk, Steven Spielberg for The Post, Martin McDonagh for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and eventual winner Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water.

Presenting Best Picture, drama, Barbra Streisand also called for more recognition for female directors.

“Backstage I heard they said I was the only woman to get the best director award, and you know… that was 1984. That was 34 years ago,” she said. “Folks, time’s up. We need more women directors and more women to be nominated for best director. There are so many films out there that are so good directed by women.”

Natalie Portman takes aim at "all male" Golden Globes shortlist