Austrian short film director Virgil Widrich (“Fast Film”) is among 487 filmmakers who were invited as new members by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday.
The Salzburg native is in prominent company with his nomination, as actresses Sandra Hüller and Lily Gladstone and director Justine Triet are also among the new invitees. The Academy decides on the Oscar award every year. The path to the illustrious committee leads either through an Oscar nomination – Widrich was nominated in 2002 for “Copy Shop” – or through other special services to film. The Academy, which now has over 10,500 members, has been striving for diversity for some time now after a number of scandals. Women make up 44 percent of those now invited, bringing the proportion of women in the organization to 35 percent. 41 percent of the 487 invitees belong to underrepresented minorities.
source site-12