'That was 34 years ago. Folks, time's up!' implored Streisand, who won the award in 1984 for her film, 'Yentl.'
Barbra Streisand can't believe she's the only female director to ever win a Golden Globe, either.
Before presenting the final award of the night on Sunday, Best Motion Picture, Drama, the 75-year-old legend of song and screen took a moment to remark on the staggering reality that no female has taken the category -- and very few have been nominated -- since she did in 1984 for her film, Yentl (which perhaps, ironically, is about a girl who disguises herself as a boy in order to be allowed to receive an education), and offered a powerful call to the industry to support women not only on the red carpet, but in the director's chair as well.
"So, backstage I heard they said something about me, I was the only woman to get -- did I hear right -- the only woman to get the Best Director award, and you know that was 1984," Streisand began. "That was 34 years ago. Folks, time's up!"
"We need more women directors and more women to be nominated for best director," she continued. "There are so many films out there that are so good directed by women."
"I'm very proud to stand in a room with people who speak out against gender inequality, sexual harassment and the pettiness that has poisoned our politics," she added. "And I'm proud that our industry, faced with uncomfortable truths, has vowed to change the way we do business. Truth is powerful, and in a really good film, we recognize the truth about ourselves, about others, and it's so powerful that it can even change people's minds, touch people's hearts and ultimately even change society itself."
As Streisand spoke, the camera showed Lady Bird star Saoirse Ronan looking on in agreement, locking hands with her film's director, Greta Gerwig. On a night where Ronan won Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, and her film won Best Picture, Musical or Comedy, Gerwig was not listed as one of the directing category's five (all-male) nominees.
This fact was not lost on Natalie Portman, who presented the category with Ron Howard, and did not hesitate to point out that uncomfortable, but important, truth, saying, "And here are the all-male nominees..."
Streisand's speech capped off the 75th Golden Globe Awards, which was definitively different from the 74 that preceded it right from the start, when host Seth Meyers wasted no time delivering biting jokes about Kevin Spacey, Harvey Weinstein and sexual harassment in Hollywood, before highlighting the Time's Up initiative during his opening monologue. Watch the video below for more.
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