Regarding racism, the Oscars have been under enormous criticism for many years. Too little diversity would be expressed in the award ceremony of the most coveted film award in the world, so the stubborn reproach. In 2015 and 2016 in particular, the discussion raged violently on #OscarsSoWhite. Subsequently, the Academy committed to double the number of nominated women and "people of color" by 2020. In the light of the current situation in the USA after the death of George Floyd and the protests that have been going on for weeks, the Academy is taking further steps, as it announced in a statement.
New criteria for nomination
By the end of July 2020, a newly created task force is to work out a representation and inclusion catalog, the fulfillment of which is a prerequisite for an Oscar nomination. This year's Oscar ceremony was not affected. But already from the 94th award ceremony in 2021, the new standards should take effect.
It was also agreed that there will always be ten nominees for the best film category in the future. So far, the number of nominees has fluctuated from year to year. The extent to which gender or ethnic relations are taken into account was not explained by the Academy in its statement.
Academy prescribes more diversity
The Academy also points out that it has been taking courses on "subconscious prejudices" since January 2020. In the future, this will be mandatory for all members of the Academy, and its over 9,000 members are also invited to participate.
The Academy also cuts the length of membership of its Supervisory Board members. So far, its members could sit on the board for nine years at a time before they had to take a year off – after that they were allowed to return, again for a maximum of nine years, one year off, there was no maximum membership period. From now on, the experts may be a member of the Academy Supervisory Board for a maximum of twelve years of their lives. They also have to take a break of at least two years after six years of membership. One hopes that this will further increase one's own diversity.