The Academy Awards are making changes to be #NotSoWhite. On Friday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced a handful of changes aimed at increasing diversity among nominated films and actors. These actions include permanently expanding the Best Picture category to 10 films and requiring nominees meet specific diversity and inclusion standards going forward.Titled “Academy Aperture 2025,” the new plans announced by the organization include creating a task force of industry leaders who will "develop and implement new representation and inclusion standards for Oscars eligibility by July 31." It seems these new standards will be implemented in 2021 and the eligibility standards won't affect the 2020 selection process.In a statement made by Academy CEO Dawn Hudson, the changes were describe as being the latest steps in a long process that will attempt to create an award show that is more inclusive in every category. “While the Academy has made strides, we know there is much more work to be done in order to ensure equitable opportunities across the board,"
said Hudson. "The need to address this issue is urgent. To that end, we will amend—and continue to examine—our rules and procedures to ensure that all voices are heard and celebrated."These
new rules are expected to "encourage equitable hiring practices and representation on and off screen.” If you listen closely, you can almost hear
Frances McDormand and Michael B. Jordan saying two very important words:
inclusion rider.Creating a task force to implement changes leaves plenty of room for interpretation, but one tangible change the Academy is making includes increasing the number of Best Picture nominees to 10, starting with the 94
th Oscars in 2022.[video_embed id='1975285']RELATED: Spike Lee is back on the big screen [/video_embed]The list of nominees for Best Picture has fluctuated in past years between five and 10 films. In 2009 and 2010, the category included 10 nominees, which made room for smaller, critically acclaimed films like
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, An Education and
Winter’s Bone.In the following years, nine films were nominated and titles led by BIPOCs, as well as storylines that centered around people of colour and members of the LGBTQ community, including
Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Selma, Fences, Hidden Figures, Get Out, The Help, Green Book, The Kids Are Alright, Dallas Buyers Club, The Imitation Game, Lion, Call Me By Your Name, Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, and
Roma were included.
Parasite, Moonlight, and
12 Years A Slave all took home the Oscar in the highly coveted category during the years they were nominated and the latter two represent the only two times in Oscars history that a film by a Black director has won Best Picture. As noted by
Yahoo, no Black director has ever won the Best Director Award and no Black woman has ever been nominated in the category.The #OscarsSoWhite trend came to a head in 2014 when all 20 acting nominees were announced and included only white actors. Since then, there has been a demand by viewers, filmmakers, actors and some members of the Academy for more diversity among nominees. In an effort to encourage the Academy to think outside the box when it comes to their selection and voting process, members of the branch executive committee, governors and Academy staff members will now be required to undergo
unconscious bias training moving forward.Last week, director
Ava DuVernay was announced as one of the six new members of the Academy’s board of directors. DuVernay’s inclusion helps improve the board’s diversity, which has more women and people of colour than ever before in its decades-long history. DuVernay’s election comes only a few days after the
Selma director’s lead actor David Oyelowo revealed that the film was
blacklisted by many Academy members because of the cast’s support for the Black Lives Matter movement.[video_embed id='1975398']BEFORE YOU GO: Ava DuVernay elected to Oscars board of governors [/video_embed]
