The Oscars will substantially modify their regulations to require that the films nominated for best picture meet minimum requirements for inclusion and racial diversity, the Hollywood Academy announced this Tuesday.
Such inclusion standards (Academy Inclusion Standards) They will not be strictly applied until the 2024 awards but will be considered from 2022while in the imminent edition they will not be considered since the vast majority of aspiring film projects have been released and/or filmed.
Among the requirements – which must not all be met – are standards such as that at least one of the protagonists represents minorities, or that 30% of the supporting cast does so, as well as that the technical team behind the cameras also meets that percentage. .
“We believe these inclusion standards will be a catalyst for essential and lasting change in our industry,” the institution’s president, David Rubin, and CEO, Dawn Hudson, said in a joint statement.
The announcement comes in the heat of racial protests in the US and after several years in which the Hollywood Academy has received criticism due to the lack of diversity among its nominees, which on the other hand reflected the work dynamics in the American audiovisual industry.
According to the directors, the new regulation is an “openness” that aims for the films recognized at the Oscars to “reflect the diverse global population” both when creating films and when presenting them to the audience.
Demanding inclusion standards for cinema from 2024
For the 2022 and 2023 Oscars, all films that want to compete will submit a form showing the requirements they meet, although they will not be required until 2024.
The Hollywood Academy has stipulated that productions contending for best film must meet at least two of four standards, which are: Representation on screen, in a creative team, opportunities for access to the audiovisual industry and/or promotion of audiences.
For the on-screen and narrative representation section, the film will have to include one of the following three criteria: That one of its protagonists is from a racial minority, that 30% of the supporting cast is from underrepresented groups or that the plot is focus on the history of one of those groups.
For the creative team section, the three criteria among which one must meet are: At least two of the creative direction positions must be from underrepresented groups, which are part of six lower positions or, at least, 30 percent of the team is from those groups.
Likewise, the standards of access opportunities and development/promotion of audiences demand that the positions for interns and apprentices or for managers and publicists of each project contemplate these diversity criteria.
By racial minority the Academy cites: Asian, Latino/Hispanic, Black/African American, Indigenous, Middle Eastern person, Hawaiian or Pacific native and “other underrepresented ethnicities or races.”
Groups underrepresented on screen are understood to be: Women, racial minorities, the LGBTQ+ community or people with diverse abilities.