The Oscars have new conditions for Best Picture

After being heavily criticized, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organizes the Oscars Awards every year, announced new representation and inclusion standards for Oscars eligibility in the Best Picture category, to encourage diversity.

 

Starting with the 96th Oscars in 2024, all movies seeking a Best Picture nomination must meet two of the four following standards in order to be deemed eligible:

- At least one of the lead actors or significant supporting actors should be from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group, and 30% is attributed to actors from underrepresented groups, or the main topic of the film is issues related to these minorities.

- Lead team or behind-the-scenes technical teams must include people from underrepresented groups.

- The film's distribution and marketing team should also include people belonging to these minorities.

 

These new standards amendments came after the Oscars were criticized for lacking ethnic diversity, especially since no black actors or other minorities were nominated in 2016 for the Oscars, which raised controversy and anger.

 

The Academy confirmed that these criteria are designed to encourage equitable representation on and off screen in order to better reflect the diversity of the movie-going audience. Not to mention that women, racial or ethnic group, and people with cognitive or physical disabilities are among the groups that should be represented in the upcoming movies wishing to win an Oscar.