Oscars: White and male nominees continue to dominate
Bettina Baumann
February 6, 2020
It is well known that there is a great imbalance between men and women in the Oscar nominations. But despite criticism, very little is happening to change that. DW looks at the numbers and the history.
Image: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP/dpa/picture alliance
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Shortly before the Oscars are awarded the Oscar Academy traditionally invites its nominees to lunch. A group photo posted on Twitter showed all the attendees, but one thing clearly stood out: The vast majority of nominees are male. The photo has caused thousands of Twitter users to criticize the Academy for their nominations.
Not only Twitter users were annoyed. American media such as the New York Times also criticized the Academy after it announced the nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards. One online article for the New York Times read: "Very Male, Very White: Let's Talk About Those Oscar Nominations."
Actress and filmmaker Issa Rae, who announced the nominees on January 13, said with a serious face that she congratulated all the men after reading out the nominees in the "Best Direction" category. Contrary to what many had expected, neither Greta Gerwig, who recently directed a remake of Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women," nor any other female director appeared in the list.
The men included Todd Phillips ("Joker"), Martin Scorsese ("The Irishman"), Sam Mendes ("1917"), Quentin Tarantino ("Once Upon a Time in Hollywood") and Bong Joon Ho ("Parasite"). With Ho, who comes from South Korea, the category includes one Person of Color (PoC), another group that is sparsely represented in all categories. The protest movements #OscarsSoMale and #OscarsSoWhite remain valid in 2020.
But what are the exact figures? If the performance categories are left out of the equation (the sexes compete separately here anyway), the total number of nominees is 193, of which almost 30% are female and over 70% male.
A look at the individual categories shows that the proportion of women in four categories is below 20%, and in Best Directing, Best Sound, Best Camera and Best Visual Effects, the number of female nominees is zero.
Men are in a minority in only three categories: Best Animated Short Film, Best Documentary Short Film and Best Costume Design. Yet even here, the gender mix is more balanced than skewed in favor of women.
Certain categories remain particularly dominated by men. In the entire history of the Oscars — the first award ceremony took place in 1929 — the jury has nominated only five women for Best Director. The last one was Greta Gerwig in 2018. Only Kathryn Bigelow managed to win the Oscar in this category.
Two years ago, Rachel Morrison became the first and only woman to be nominated in the Best Camera category.
In 1997, Rachel Portman became the first woman to win the Oscar for Best Original Score and a year later Anne Dudley achieved the same. The Icelandic cellist and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, who wrote the soundtrack for the big Oscar favorite "Joker", could be the third woman to win the category this year. Her sad cello sounds already impressed this year's Golden Globe jury.
From comic book drama "Joker" to war epic "1917," it will be hard to choose from among nine films for best picture at this year's Academy Awards. Renée Zellweger and Joaquin Phoenix are best actor favorites.
Image: Reuters
Awaiting the 2020 Academy Awards
On February 9 at Hollywood's Dolby Theater, Oscars will be dolled out by the academy to what they regard as the best films of the past year. Winning or even being nominated for the ultimate film prize can often be the key to box office success. 2019 saw civil rights road-trip drama "Green Book" named best film, and "The Favorite" take a surprise haul. Will 2020 spring any upsets?
Image: Reuters
Early favorite: "Joker"
In the prestigious best film category, nine films have been nominated. Three favorites have emerged in recent weeks on the back of awards at the Golden Globes and BAFTAs. "Joker," the drama directed by Todd Phillips and starring actor Joaquin Phoenix, who one the Golden Globe for best actor, has eleven nominations in total and is leading the pack.
"1917," the First World War drama by British director Sam Mendes (Oscar-winning director of "Skyfall," "Spectre" and "American Beauty") is closely trailing "Joker" with 10 nominations. The epic about the impossible mission of two English soldiers on the battlefields in northern France recently won big at the BAFTA British film awards, including best film.
Image: 2019 Universal Pictures and Storyteller Distribution Co., LLC.
Tarantino's ode to Hollywood
Cult director Quentin Tarantino also has a shot at Oscar glory with his film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." The comedy following the exploits of a B-movie star and his stuntman during the golden age of Hollywood packs plenty of star power, with Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead roles. The genre film celebration has received 10 Oscar nominations.
Image: Imago Images/Zuma Press/Columbia Pictures
Best director?
With his latest mob drama "The Irishman", legendary director Martin Scorsese is back in contention for an Oscar — his 10th best director nomination, after winning for "Departed" in 2007. The mafia epic was also nominated in the best film category. There has been criticism of the all-male best director field — it's the second year running where no women have been nominated.
Image: Imago Images/Netflix/STX Entertainment
Leading lady: Renée Zellweger
This year's clear favorite in the best actress is Renée Zellweger, who won best supporting actress for "Cold Mountain" back in 2003. She has already received the Golden Globe for her impressive portrayal of the legendary stage and film star Judy Garland in the film "Judy," and many insiders are now tipping her to win the Oscar.
Image: Imago/D. Hindley
Top tip: Joaquin Phoenix
In the competition for the title of best actor, it would be surprising if the award went to anyone other than Joaquin Phoenix — who just won the BAFTA and has been widely praised for his virtuoso performance in the comic book drama. His deft portrayal of the eponymous "Joker," at turns sad, violent and witty, should bring Phoenix his first best actor Oscar.
The best original screenplay category will be tightly fought. Quentin Tarantino is nominated for "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," while writer and director Noah Baumbach is another frontrunner for his portrait of divorce, "Marriage Story." Like Scorsese's "The Irishman," the film was produced by Netflix and symbolizes the ongoing battle between traditional film studios and new streaming services.
Image: Marriage Story/W. Webb
Foreign films
This year the competition is fierce in the best international film category, with movies from Poland, North Macedonia, France, Spain and South Korea competing. One major success at the box office was "Parasite," a black comedy-thriller by South Korean writer and director Bong Joon Ho that's widely tipped to take the honors in 2020. It is nominated for six Oscars and won at the Golden Globes.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Koch Film
A double category win?
The difficult feat of being nominated for best international film and best documentary film was achieved by "Honeyland," a heartfelt, fly-on-the-wall doco from North Macedonia by directors Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska. It tells the intimate story of a nature-loving beekeeper, following her daily joys and struggles. Significant buzz for "Honeyland" makes it a good Oscar bet.
As low as the percentage of women at the Oscars is at 30%, it is higher than at any time in Academy history.
Four years ago, the Oscar jury, which now has around 8,500 members, changed its structure to ensure more diversity in its ranks, taking on more women and people of color and growing by 35%. Half of the new members last year were women. Nevertheless, the jury that decides on the coveted Oscar trophies is still 68% male and 84% white.
When it comes to nominations and awarding prizes to people of color, the Academy has become more progressive. Last year however, more people of color received awards than ever before. In 2017 half of the winners in the acting categories were black and in 2018 two people of color were honored as Best Supporting Actors.
Attention has already been turned to the lack of diversity in the fim industry after lead "Joker" actor Joaquin Phoenix criticized "systematic racism" in the film industry at the Bafta Awards just a few days ago.
With this is mind, it can be assumed that the Academy will have to face the criticism of #OscarsSoMale and #OscarsSoWhite once again this Sunday when it says "And the Oscar goes to..."
