Race row over Oscars as Rev Al Sharpton protests nominations

CARIBBEAN360  JANUARY 20, 2015

 

ACCORDING TO AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST REVEREND AL SHARPTON: “THE MOVIE INDUSTRY IS LIKE THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS: THE HIGHER YOU GET, THE WHITER IT GETS.”

CALIFORNIA, United States, Tuesday January 20, 2015 – While the old adage “you can’t please all the people all the time” seems to have been custom crafted for the annual Academy Awards, the 2015 staging of the event has escalated from discontent to controversy with the announcement of the nominations for what are arguably the most prestigious titles in the motion picture industry.

The strife stems from the fact that all the nominees in the four acting categories are white, plunging the Oscars into a race row.

According to American civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton: “The movie industry is like the Rocky Mountains: the higher you get, the whiter it gets.”

Reverend Sharpton, a critic of the lack of diversity in the American motion picture industry, indicated that he had called an “emergency meeting” in Hollywood “to discuss possible action around the Academy Awards.”   

Although “Selma,” the civil rights drama based on Dr Martin Luther King’s historic marches, has been nominated for Best Picture, its black British star David Oyelowo failed to make the shortlist for Best Actor.

Likewise, Selma’s director Ava Duvernay, who had been tipped to be the first black woman ever nominated for Best Director, failed to make the Oscar cut in another all-white category.

“The lack of diversity in the Oscar nominations is appalling and while it is good that Selma was nominated for best picture, it’s ironic that they nominated a story about the racial shut-out around voting while there is a racial shut-out around the Oscar nominations,” Sharpton said.

“With all of the talent in Selma and other black movies this year, it is hard to believe that we have less diversity in the nominations today than in recent history,” the 60-year-old activist added.

“Selma,” starring David Oyelowo, Colman Domingo, André Holland and Stephan James, was produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment and Oprah Winfrey.

Pitt’s production company, Plan B, was also behind “12 Years a Slave,” which took home both the Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress (for Lupita Nyong’o) Oscars last year.

The lack of ethnic variety this year has nevertheless prompted campaigners to take to Twitter and create the online trend #OscarsSoWhite.

In 2011 the Oscars also featured 20 all-white acting nominees, marking the first time that had happened since the 1998 whitewash.

Commentators nevertheless claim that this is “the whitest Oscars” in years and a reminder of the slow pace of change in Hollywood.

Adding to the lack of diversity this year, no women are nominated in either the Best Director or Best Screenwriter categories.
According to Tom O’Neil, founder of awards tracker Gold Derby: “The Academy is about 90 percent white and 70 percent male and we’re seeing the sad result of that in voting.”

Neil Patrick Harris will host the 87th Academy Awards on February 22.

Last year’s Oscars, hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, drew 43 million viewers, making it the most-watched entertainment telecast in a decade.

ACADEMY AWARDS 2015: FULL LIST OF NOMINATIONS

Best Picture

American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Best Director

Alexandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

Best Actor

Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Best Actress

Marion Cotillard, Two Days One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Best Cinematography

Birdman – Emmanuel Lubezki
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Robert Yeoman
Ida – Lukasz Zal & Ryszard Lenczewski
Mr Turner – Dick Pope
Unbroken – Roger Deakin

Best Foreign Language Film

Ida
Leviathan
Tangerines
Timbuktu
Wild Tales

Best Adapted Screenplay

American Sniper
The Imitation Game
Inherent Vice
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Best Original Screenplay

Birdman
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Nightcrawler

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Foxcatcher
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Original Score

The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Mr. Turner
The Theory of Everything

Best Original Song

“Lost Stars,” Begin Again
“Everything is Awesome,” The LEGO Movie
“Glory,” Selma
“Grateful,” Beyond the Lights
“I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me

Best Animated Feature

Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of Princess Kaguya

Best Documentary—Short

Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1
Joanna
Our Curse
The Reaper
White Earth

Best Film Editing

American Sniper
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Whiplash

Best Production Design

The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
Into the Woods
Mr. Turner

Best Animated Short

The Bigger Picture
The Dam Keeper
Feast
Me and My Moulton
A Single Life

Best Live Action Short

Aya
Boogaloo and Graham
Butter Lamp
Parvaneh
The Phone Call

Best Sound Editing

American Sniper
Birdman
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Interstellar
Unbroken

Best Sound Mixing

American Sniper
Birdman
Interstellar
Unbroken
Whiplash

Best Visual Effects

Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy
Interstellar
X-Men: Days of Future Past

Best Documentary — Feature

Citizenfour
Finding Vivien Maier
Last Days of Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

Best Costume Design

The Grand Budapest Hotel
Inherent Vice
Into the Woods
Maleficent
Mr Turner

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