This victory undoubtedly has a special flavor. Director Ava DuVernay was elected to the Oscars steering committee on Thursday. A great feat for the filmmaker whose filmography continues to denounce the latent racism of American society and institutions towards the black community, from the documentary Le 13e to the miniseries Dans leur regard . She will be on the front line to reform an academy which, five years ago, snubbed her film Selma. On Twitter, Ava DuVernay, who has been using her account for fifteen days to identify victims of police violence one by one, has greeted with emotion this evolution of mentalities within the Academy of the Oscars.
The committee of governors of the Oscars, renewed by thirds each year, represents the different professional branches of the cinema industry and has the mission of defining the strategic objectives of the Academy. Ava DuVernay was elected into the body of directors, while the star of Sister Act Whoopi Goldberg was reappointed to represent the actors. With 26 women and 12 people of color out of 54 governors (compared to 25 and 11 previously), the new composition of the committee that heads the Academy has never been so diverse. Four of the new governors elected for the first time this year are women.
Selma boycotted because of the commitment of her actors
For a decade, the Academy of Oscars has been strongly criticized for its composition and its awards, deemed too white and masculine. The institution is committed to working for more diversity and equality. Each year, it co-ops hundreds of new, younger members, selecting representatives of minorities, far beyond the borders of American cinema and Hollywood. Formerly limited to 300 elected officials per year, these new promotions, announced at the start of the summer, now reach more than 800 recruits from fifty-nine countries.
In 2015 and 2016, the Oscars had not named any actor from diversity provoking a #OscarsSoWhite protest campaign on social networks. The film Selma by Ava DuVernay, which retraced the historic fight led by Martin Luther King to obtain the right to vote for all American citizens, was among the eligible works in 2015. Selected in the category of best film, the biopic had to settle for the Oscar for best song. Many believed at the time that Selma had been unjustly overlooked by being excluded from the categories of best actor, best script and best director.
David Oyelowo who camped Martin Luther King, attributes this lack of recognition to the commitment of the Selma team . The filmmaker and his actors had expressed their anger at the time after the death of Eric Garner, an African-American who died of asphyxiation during his arrest by the police. The team had put on t-shirts that read “I can't breathe” during the film's premiere in 2014. Several members of the poll admitted to disowning this decision, on condition of anonymity. position and boycotted Selma . Seeming to confirm these facts, the Academy of Oscars had replied on Twitter to David Oyelowo: “Ava & David, we can hear you. Unacceptable. We are committed to improving. ” For Ava DuVernay, the repair will have waited five years.