Ava Duvernay IS the Best Director of the Year

2015 Oscar Nominations: A Dark Day for Women in Hollywood
By Melissa Silverstein, Indiewire.com

Ava Duvernay, Director of Selma, and actor David Oyelowo
(Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma)

I couldn't sleep at all last night because I knew in the pit of my stomach exactly what was going to happen this morning. Based on the wind and on the hatchet job against Selma, I knew that Ava Duvernay was not going to be nominated for Best Director for her work on that magnificent film.

I know that she is proud of her Best Picture nomination, and I know that she is proud of the Best Song nomination and in the work that everyone did on her film. As well she should be. But as a long-time observer of the Oscars -- and the difficulty for women to break through -- the fact that DuVernay did not get nominated is devastating.