Maybe but kinda hard to imagine a coordinated effort among hundreds of critics and directors in an anonymous poll to like... 'make a point'... sounds conspiratorial lol. Imo-- think there are simpler explanations. Like critics (and directors who separately ranked it #4) actually just going back to watch it/ revisit it and appreciating it more than before.

In 2012 only 2 movies directed by women were even considered vs 11 in 2022. You can argue thats because only 2 deserved to be there, but I would guesssss (with absolutely no evidence for this claim) most film people these days would agree that those older polls seriously under-rated and under-watched some pretty major women filmmakers -- let alone the lesser known ones. I'm no expert but even I know Varda, Campion, and Sofia Coppolla are top tier.