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When it comes to moving the needle on race and gender diversity, the guys at the Oscars would have you believe they have done their bit.
Amid much media buzz, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sent out voting invitations to 683 people who work in film – twice as many as usual.
This in the name of reputation management, following January’s #OscarsSoWhite scandal – and two years of all-white nominations lists in the major acting categories.
Of the 683, 46% are women and 41% comprise people of colour.
The trouble is, the 683 is just a little more than 11% of the total number of voters (there are 6 000 in all), so the diversity is offset by decades of white, male dominance with an average age north of 60.
On the list – which includes 28 Oscar winners and representatives from 59 countries – is Idris Elba, who was infamously snubbed for a best actor Oscar at this year’s ceremony for his role in Beasts of No Nation.
Also included is John Boyega, the young black star of the new Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, as well as Ice Cube and Michael B Jordan.
The Wayans brothers – Damon and Marlon – have cracked the nod, as has actress Anika Noni Rose, who played the other Dreamgirl.
On the gender side, the old white boys’ club have invited in well established actresses such as Loretta Devine, Regina King and Vivica A Fox – a powerhouse trio of African-American actresses who, between them, have been in film for 85 years.
Also getting an invite are HeForShe gender equality activist Emma Watson, as well as actress Freida Pinto, musician Mary J Blige and writer-comedienne Tina Fey.
One of Africa’s grandfathers of film, Malian Souleymane Cissé, whose 1987 film Yeelen was nominated for the Palm d’Or and won the Jury Prize, has been invited to vote. You would think he would have been asked to join in the last century.
Tunisia’s Abdellatif Kechiche, the writer of the 2010 film Black Venus, was invited.
So were transgender siblings Lana and Lilly Wachowski (the duo behind films such as The Matrix trilogy and Cloud Atlas), whose invitations served to put lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex issues on the table in Hollywood, which is notoriously hetero-normative.
Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs said she was “heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion”, and that it was time for “big changes”.
But when all the invitation acceptances are counted, the new diversity numbers push female membership overall from a current 25% to 27%, and race diversity from 8% to 11%.
It seems that this is the first wave in a movement to diversify meaningfully by 2020. However, proof that even a few percentages can move the needle will only be seen in the 2017 nominations.
