Ryan Coogler Could Make Oscars History on Sunday Night

If Ryan Coogler takes home the Best Director award at the 98th Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 15, he would be the first Black director to ever receive the award.

This would be an enormous feat for the Academy, which has been advocating for equality and diversity at the Oscars in recent years.

Only Seven Black Directors Have Ever Been Nominated; Zero Have Won

Throughout the history of the Academy Awards, only seven Black filmmakers have ever been nominated in the Best Director category, including Ryan Coogler. Most recently, this was Spike Lee in 2018 for BlacKkKlansman, who lost against Alfonso Cuarón for Roma.

Previous nominees include Jordan Peele for Get Out, Barry Jenkins for Moonlight, Steve McQueen for 12 Years A Slave, Lee Daniels for Precious, and John Singleton for Boyz 'n The Hood.

While the Academy has been pushing for diversity in recent years and typically does a good job of including international and female nominees, Black filmmakers are still clearly underrepresented in this category.

Coogler's win would be a historic moment for the Academy, especially if Sinners goes on to win Best Picture alongside it. It's also extremely fitting that a movie like Sinners—which discusses the history of Black communities in America—could be the first film to overcome this hurdle.

Coogler Is Not The Frontrunner To Win Best Director

Unfortunately, the odds aren't stacked in Coogler's favor to win Best Director on Sunday night. Paul Thomas Anderson has been sweeping up the precursor awards for One Battle After Another, which is the clear favorite to win Best Director and Best Picture.

There's definitely a cultural momentum that's working in Sinners' favor—especially since the film became the most-nominated title at the Oscars ever and Michael B. Jordan won the SAG Award for Best Actor—but it's unclear whether this will be enough.