Academy Awards Body is Becoming More Diverse and Middle East is Part of the Change

Diana Bell-Heather   |   28-06-2018

Lebanese Director Nadine Labaki Wins Big At The Cannes Film Festival

 

The Academy Awards group, who are behind the Oscars film awards, are making a play for diversity by inviting 928 artists and executives to join, and three of the invitees are from the Middle East.

 

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have extended an invitation to members from 59 countries as part of a plan to double the number of women and ethnic minorities in the Academy by 2020.

 

Lebanese actress and director Nadine Labaki is one of the three members from the region who made headlines earlier this year as being the first ever Arab woman to receive the Jury Prize Award under the Palme d’Or for her emotionally charged short film Capernaum that received a 15 minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.

 

Algerian-French actress Sofia Boutella will also be part of this new move as well as Lebanese-born cinematographer Ziad Doueiri.

 

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Lebanese Director Nadine Labaki Wins Big At The Cannes Film Festival