The film snubbed this year was Carol, Todd Haynes beautiful lesbian love story, which failed to pick up nominations for Best Director or Best Picture. On Twitter, #OscarsSoWhite went viral. The other best-picture nominees are “The Big Short”, “Bridge of Spies”, “Brooklyn”, “The Martian”, “Room” and “Spotlight”.
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“What is important is that this entire conversation of diversity is here and that we are talking about it”, said Isaacs.
A year after host Neil Patrick Harris quipped that the Oscars were honoring Hollywood’s “best and whitest”, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled yet another all-white slate of acting nominees Thursday, prompting a dismayed revival of the “OscarsSoWhite” hashtag.
The best picture nominees also include independent films “Room”, “Spotlight” and “Brooklyn” as well as studio productions “The Big Short” and “Bridge of Spies”, which had budgets in the $20 million to $40 million range.
Putting the issue in even sharper relief, two films with black directors and largely black casts-“Compton” and the “Rocky” spinoff “Creed“-landed nominations only for Caucasians who worked on the movies: Supporting actor Sylvester Stallone for “Creed” and the pair of screenwriters behind “Compton”.
The team of “The Revenant”, who now stand a chance to win in categories like Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Visual Effects, Best Costume Design and Best Sound Mixing, might also walk away with top honours including Best Picture and Best Director.
An Oscar statue is seen as preparations are made for the 87th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015.
I was also disappointed to see Quentin Tarantino not nominated for best screenplay for the brilliant “The Hateful Eight”.
Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs seemed to agree.
“The Revenant” will compete with gritty action adventure “Mad Max: Fury Road” and space film “The Martian”.
“No Oscar nomination for Straight Outta Compton either – which was brilliant”, he tweeted after the nominations were announced this afternoon (Jan 14).
Comedian Chris Rock, who is black, is hosting the star-studded ceremony and many are predicting that he will have a “field day” poking fun at the all-white lineup of actors nominated.
“If you don’t expand the diversity of that membership – and by extension producers and directors who more fairly reflect society – you get this grotesque imbalance”, he told AFP.
Oscar nominees for Best Actor: (from left) Bryan Cranston, Matt Damon, Michael Fassbender, Eddie Redmayne, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
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Despite leading the Golden Globe nominations and being a critics’ darling, “Carol” failed to earn a best picture nod or a nomination for director Todd Haynes.
