The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – which oversees the Oscars – has said starting 2024 any Best Picture nominee must have a supporting actor from somewhere like the Middle East.
The Academy said that to be considered Best Picture, any film must have at least one lead actor or actress, or significant supporting actor or actress from an underrepresented group, such as Middle East, North Africa, Asia, Latin America, Native America, the Pacific Islands and more.
This should mean we will start seeing a significant increase in Middle Eastern talent appearing in some of Hollywood’s best new films.
The move is part of the Academy’s ongoing effort to improve inclusion both within its organization, as well as the movies that it judges. Over previous years, the Academy has been under increasing pressure to modernize after a slew of all-white actors and films were celebrated.
“The aperture must widen to reflect our diverse global population in both the creation of motion pictures and in the audiences who connect with them,” the academy’s president David Rubin in a statement.
These targets won’t come to fruition until 2024, but starting in 2022 there will be an inclusion standard for films to be considered eligible.
It is a bit of a baby step, but that’s still a small step in the right direction for a diversified film industry.
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