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Films considered for the category will have to meet new standards put forward by the Academy
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced new Diversity and Inclusion standards for Best Picture eligibility.
The standards come as part of the Academy’s Academy Aperture 2025 initiative and will be in place from the 96th Academy Awards in 2024. The standards aim to “encourage equitable representation on and off screen in order to better reflect the diversity of the movie-going audience”.
To qualify for the Best Picture category in the 96th Academy Awards, films must complete two out of four categories: On-screen Representation, Themes and Narratives; Creative Leadership and Project Team; Industry Access and Opportunities; and Audience Development.
Each category details a number of requirements for the film to be eligible as a nominee. These include ensuring that a lead actor or at least 30% of all actors in secondary and more minor roles are from an underrepresented group; ensuring similar standards in creative leadership and department heads and other key roles in the crew; providing paid apprenticeship and internship opportunities to underrepresented groups; and ensuring representation on the films’ marketing, publicity, and/or distribution teams.
The news comes five years after the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag began trending, drawing attention to the lack of underrepresented ethnic and racial groups in that year’s list of nominees. The Academy was criticised for its lack of diversity, and led to a promise to double its female and Bame members by 2020.
The Academy recently reported that it has doubled its number of active women members, and tripled its active members from underrepresented ethnic/ racial communities.
Academy President David Rubin and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement:“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 is committed to playing a vital role in helping make this a reality.”
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