Lina Wertmuller.
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Wertmuller directed Seven Beauties. The film was also nominated for best foreign language film, best screenplay, and best actor for Giancarlo Giannini, although it did not win in any category.
It would be almost 20 years before another woman was nominated for best director: Jane Campion for The Piano at the 1994 awards.
In 1977 - 48 years after the Oscars began - Lina Wertmuller became the first woman to be nominated for best director, but she was not chosen as the winner.
Wertmuller directed Seven Beauties. The film was also nominated for best foreign language film, best screenplay, and best actor for Giancarlo Giannini, although it did not win in any category.