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 The slate for the 87th Academy Awards was a reminder of the
glacial pace of change in Hollywood's film industry, even after
what looked like progress for black actors and filmmakers last
year stemming from the best picture winner, "12 Years a Slave."
All 20 actors nominated in the four acting categories this year
are white and no women are nominated for either best director or
screenwriter. Award watchers called it "the whitest Oscars" in
years.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has some 6,000
members, who are selected for the quality of their work and
recommendations by existing members. Academy branches, such as
for actors and directors, nominate for their categories, and
everyone can nominate best picture contenders.
"The Academy is about 90 percent white and 70 percent male and
we're seeing the sad result of that in voting," said Tom O'Neil,
founder of awards tracker Gold Derby, referring to figures from
a 2012 Los Angeles Times study on Academy voters.
Race and gender are not considered, although behind-the-scenes,
members say there are debates at branch level about how to make
membership more diverse.
David Oyelowo, the star of "Selma," and the film's director Ava
DuVernay, both failed to garner nominations despite having been
nominated for Golden Globes for their parts in the movie about
African-American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.
DuVernay made history as the first black woman to be nominated
for a Golden Globe best director award.
Some historians had said the film misrepresented President
Lyndon Johnson's stand on voting rights, but critics were quick
to point out that "Selma" was only the latest historical picture
to draw scrutiny over its accuracy.
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The film scored a best picture Oscar nomination, and Academy
president Cheryl Boone Isaacs - who herself made history as the
first black female president of the organization - drew attention to
that.
"I am extremely happy to note that 'Selma' is up for best picture,
which means the talent that it took to bring 'Selma' to the screen
was recognized, and I think that's important," she said.
But Selma's exclusion in all the other key Oscar races and in the
director, producer, actor and writer guild awards, is likely to hurt
its chances at winning best picture on Oscars night, said O'Neil,
the awards tracker.
"Critics proclaimed it's the best movie of the year and the Oscars
shunned it in most categories, so that means something's wrong," he
said.
Last year "12 Years a Slave" made history as the first film by a
black director, Steve McQueen, to win best picture. African-American
John Ridley won best adapted screenplay and Lupita Nyong'o won best
supporting actress.
But if race is a big part of the debate, so is gender.
All of this year's best picture nominees - "American Sniper,"
"Birdman," "Boyhood," "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "The Imitation
Game," "Selma," "The Theory of Everything" and "Whiplash" - were
male-driven stories with male-dominated casts.
(Editing by Mary Milliken and Howard Goller)
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