Oscar embraces diversity after 2017 controversy

Oscar embraces diversity after 2017 controversy

The complete list of nominations for the 2018 Academy Awards has been released. After last year’s nominations spawned the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, this year’s list is far more diverse.

Get Out is among those films that have performed well in nominations, receiving four. These include Best Picture, Best Director, Best Lead Actor, and Best Original Screenplay. Jordan Peele’s film debut, the film has been described as a ‘social thriller’ for its horrific portrayal of US race relations.  Peele is only the third person ever to receive Best Picture, Directing and Writing nominations for his first feature-length movie as a director. The other two to do so were Warren Beatty with Heaven Can Wait (1978) and James L. Brooks for Terms of Endearment (1983).

On Twitter, Peele told followers that he had been “ugly crying” at the news.


Peele is only the fifth African American Director to be nominated, and would be the first to ever win should this take place.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated women across most categories, matching a record set in 2016.

Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water leads the list, with nominations in 13 categories.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi was nominated in multiple technical categories. These included Visual Effects, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, and Original Score for John Williams’ work on the film. Should The Last Jedi be successful in this latter category, it will mark Williams’ sixth Academy Award. His first recognised his work on Star Wars in 1977. Insightsreview of The Last Jedi referred to the film as “a bold statement, a film that sets up the new status quo for Episode IX”.

Wonder Woman is among the films completely ‘snubbed’ by the Academy, having not been nominated in a single category.

While The Disaster Artist was previously expected to perform well at the awards, sexual harassment allegations against director James Franco appear to have led to his being  locked out of nominations. Franco previously won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Tommy Wiseau.

Voting for the Oscars was opened from 5 January until 12 January 2018. An honorary professional association, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has over 5,000 voting members. It does not publicly disclose its membership.

The 90th Academy Awards take place on Monday, 5 March (Australian time).

Image courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Jonathan Foye is Insights’ Editor

Share

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top