Greta Gerwig is the 5th woman to be nominated for a best director Oscar - here are all the others

In 1994, Campion became the second woman to get nominated for directing a film. "The Piano," about a mute piano player and her daughter, stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, and Anna Paquin, who won best supporting actress at age 11.

At the 66th Academy Awards ceremony, Campion won for best original screenplay, but lost the directing category to Steven Spielberg, who won for "Schindler's List."

Coppola's critically acclaimed comedy starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson was a favorite in the 2004 awards season, earning her a nomination for best director. The movie, about two lonely Americans who become friends after meeting at a Tokyo hotel, was also nominated for best picture. Though it didn't win in either of those categories, Coppola won the statue for best original screenplay. Coppola lost the directing category to Peter Jackson for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." Other nominees in the category included Fernando Meirelles ("City of God"), Peter Weir ("Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"), and Clint Eastwood ("Mystic River").

Bigelow is the only female director to win an Oscar. She won for "The Hurt Locker," and fun fact: she beat her husband James Cameron, who was nominated for directing "Avatar." "The Hurt Locker," which takes place during the Iraq War, follows an elite bomb disposal unit (Explosive Ordinance Disposal) as they navigate the dangerous streets of Baghdad.

In 2013, Bigelow was not nominated for directing "Zero Dark Thirty," a film about the team that found Osama bin Laden, though it got several nominations including best picture.

In the directing category, Gerwig is up against Jordan Peele, the fifth black man nominated in the directing category (none have won), Guillermo del Toro, Christopher Nolan, and Paul Thomas Anderson.