Zoya Akhtar, Anupam Kher, Anurag Kashyap invited for Oscars panel
In a step towards making a more inclusive team, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science has invited 842 new members this year from 59 countries across the globe. The list of invitees includes several Indian names like Zoya Akhtar, Anupam Kher, Anurag Kashyap, and Ritesh Batra. These members will be a part of the committee responsible to pick Oscars nominations. Here's more.
Zoya for director, Kashyap for short-films, Anupam for actor category
While the Gully Boy director Zoya Akhtar will be joining the Motion Picture team in the Director category, Sacred Games director Anurag Kashyap is invited to join the Short-films and feature animation category. Apart from these two, veteran actor Anupam Kher is invited to be a part of the Actor category and director-writer Ritesh Batra, known for The Lunchbox, will join the Writer category.
Two others invited for Visual Effects category: Sherry and Srinivas
Notably, two others- Sherry Bharda and Srinivas Mohan- have been invited for the Visual Effects category. Bharda has worked as a Visual effects supervisor in Uri: The Surgical Strike, and Mohan is best known for his visual work in Baahubali: The Beginning.
29% people of color are a part of the team
Last year, 928 new members were invited by the organization including SRK, Naseeruddin Shah, Tabu and Madhuri Dixit. Although the number of new members invited has reduced this year, the inclusion of more diverse members is significant. Like people from different races have been included, and therefore, 29% people of color are a part of the team. Earlier, Academy's all-white team was heavily criticized.
10 out of 17 categories has more women invitees
In the years 2015 and 2016, the panel had all-white acting nominees, which gave rise to #OscarsSoWhite movement in 2015, but now people of color has doubled, from 8% to 16%. This year, the Academy has taken another magnificent step by hiking its overall female membership to 32%, as half of this year's invitees are women. Also, some categories have more women invitees.
Academy Awards to be held earlier than usual in 2020
The increased women representation is seen in 10 out of 17 categories, which include the directing, writing and producing branches. The female membership was earlier at 25%. Reportedly, the film academy will have more than 9,000 members this year if most of the invitees accept the call. The Academy Awards are expected to be held earlier than usual, on February 9 in 2020.
