For example, no people of color are nominated for acting awards, while Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu (The Revenant) is the only nonwhite best director nominee.
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Its lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who has been nominated for Best Actor three times and Best Supporting Actor once, will be up against last year’s victor Eddie Redmayne again. He acknowledges that, yes, “it doesn’t have a SAG nomination for ensemble and that kind of film rarely wins”. Although “Straight Outta Compton”, the blockbuster biopic about African-American gangster rap pioneers N.W.A., received a Best Screenplay nomination, it’s black director F. Gary Gray was not included in the best director category.
“Champagne and mezcal will run tonight!” said Inarritu in a statement from London.
The glaring absence of black actors or directors among this year’s Oscar nominees has triggered an outpouring of criticism, setting social media abuzz as the list was unveiled on Thursday.
Asked about the criticism on the lack of diversity, Iñarritu said: “I agree, I think that there has to be there (on) the screen much more stories that represent all of us”.
Previous Oscar winners Cate Blanchett and Jennifer Lawrence returned to the best actress race, which has no obvious front-runners.
The Oscars, chosen by the 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, can have up to 10 best picture nominees, but voters selected just eight. In addition, fans believe that films like Creed, Beasts of No Nation and Straight Outta Compton were heavily snubbed.
Ryan Coogler’s acclaimed Rocky sequel “Creed”, starring Michael B. Jordan, was also often cited as one of the year’s best, but it drew only a nomination for Sylvester Stallone reprising his role as Rocky Balboa.
The best actress field also includes rising star Brie Larson for “Room”; veteran Charlotte Rampling, who is hoping British drama “45 Years” will bring her first Oscar; and Saoirse Ronan for Irish immigrant tale “Brooklyn”. “I realized how special that is and I didn’t expect that to happen to me”, he said.
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Following a record $11 billion year at the box office, the academy still kept the year’s biggest hit – J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” – out of the major categories, instead nominating it for five technical awards.
