Former Marlborough College student Emerald Fennell has made Oscar history as one of two women nominated in the Best Director category. 

Fennell, well-known for her acting roles as Camilla Parker Bowles in the Crown and Patsy in Call the Midwife, has been nominated for directing Promising Young Woman.

And Chloe Zhao, nominated for her film Nomadland, is the first woman of colour to be recognised in the category.

It marks the first time in Oscar history that more than one woman has been in the running for the award.

Promising Young Woman stars Carey Mulligan, a character who seeks out vegeance following a traumatising event in her life. 

Posting on Twitter, Fennell wrote: "So proud and grateful to every amazing person who worked on this film. Never going to stop crying."

Kathryn Bigelow is the only woman to have ever picked up the Best Director Oscar - for the Hurt Locker in 2010.

Promising Young Woman is nominated in the following categories:

  • Best Picture
  • Best Director – Emerald Fennell
  • Best Actress – Carey Mulligan
  • Best Original Screenplay – Emerald Fennell
  • Best Film Editing

Gary Oldman, Olivia Colman, Riz Ahmed, Daniel Kaluuya and Sir Anthony Hopkins are among the British stars nominated for this year's Oscars.

Promising Young Woman has previously yielded three Golden Globe nominations.

The full list of nominations for this year's Oscars are listed below:

Best film

The Father

Judas And The Black Messiah

Mank

Minari

Nomadland

Promising Young Woman

Sound Of Metal

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Leading Actor

Riz Ahmed - Sound of Metal

Chadwick Boseman - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Anthony Hopkins - The Father

Gary Oldman - Mank

Steven Yeun - Minari

Supporting Actor

Sacha Baron Cohen - The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Daniel Kaluuya - Judas And The Black Messiah

Leslie Odom, Jr - One Night in Miami

Paul Raci - Sound Of Metal

Lakeith Stanfield - Judas And The Black Messiah

Leading Actress

Viola Davis - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Andra Day - The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Vanessa Kirby - Pieces Of A Woman

Frances McDormand - Nomadland

Carey Mulligan - Promising Young Woman

Supporting Actress

Maria Bakalova - Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Glenn Close - Hillbilly Elegy

Olivia Colman - The Father

Amanda Seyfried - Mank

Yuh-Jung Youn - Minari

Best Director

Another Round - Thomas Vinterberg

Mank - David Fincher

Minari - Lee Isaac Chung

Nomadland - Chloe Zhao

Promising Young Woman - Emerald Fennell

Animated Feature Film

Onward

Over the Moon

A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

Soul

Wolfwalkers

Cinematography

Judas And The Black Messiah

Mank

News of the World

Nomadland

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Costume Design

Emma

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

Mulan

Pinocchio

Best Documentary Feature

Collective

Crip Camp

The Mole Agent

My Octopus Teacher

Time

Best Documentary Short Subject

Colette

A Concerto Is a Conversation

Do Not Split

Hunger Ward

A Love Song for Latasha

Editing

The Father

Nomadland

Promising Young Woman

Sound of Metal

The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Best International Feature Film

Another Round

Better Days

Collective

The Man Who Sold His Skin

Quo Vadis, Aida?

Make-up And Hairstyling

Emma

Hillbilly Elegy

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

Pinocchio

Original Score

Da 5 Bloods

Mank

Minari

News of the World

Soul

Original Song

Fight For You from Judas And The Black Messiah

Hear My Voice from The Trial Of The Chicago 7

Husavik from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga

Lo Sì (Seen) from The Life Ahead

Speak Now from One Night In Miami

Production Design

The Father

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Mank

News Of The World

Tenet

Animated Short Film

Burrow

Genius Loci

If Anything Happens I Love You

Opera

Yes-People

Best Live-Action Short Film

Feeling Through

The Letter Room

The Present

Two Distant Strangers

White Eye

Sound

Greyhound

Mank

News Of The World

Soul

Sound Of Metal

Visual Effects

Love And Monsters

The Midnight Sky

Mulan

The One And Only Ivan

Tenet

Adapted Screenplay

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

The Father

Nomadland

One Night in Miami

The White Tiger

Original Screenplay

Judas And The Black Messiah

Minari

Promising Young Woman

Sound of Metal

The Trial of the Chicago 7