Nollywood veteran, Genevieve Nnaji, British-Nigerian actress Cynthia Erivo and film maker Akin Omotoso have become members of the United States based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The Academy invited the trio along with 816 artists and executives, who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures.
Genevieve accepted her own invitation today. She now has a voting right.
In a tweet on Wednesday, she said:”I’m honored to be a member of the family. Thank you”
Cynthia Erivo
Akin Omotoso
The Academy yearly organises Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, for artistic and technical merit in the film industry. Winners are picked by the Academy’s voting membership.
Last year, Genevieve was caught in a controversy with the organisation, when her Netflix film Lionheart was disqualified for being ‘too English’.
Multi-talented Cynthia Erivo was nominated from the same category of actors. However, she is among eight nominees invited to join the Academy by multiple branches.
She will now select one branch upon accepting membership.
Akin Omotoso’s name was listed among the class of directors:
In the statement issued Tuesday night, the Academy said its 2020 class is “45% women, 36% underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 49% international from 68 countries.
“There are 75 Oscar® nominees, including 15 winners, and five recipients of Scientific and Technical Awards.
“The Academy is delighted to welcome these distinguished fellow travellers in the motion picture arts and sciences. We have always embraced extraordinary talent that reflects the rich variety of our global film community, and never more so than now,” said Academy President David Rubin.
“In 2016, the Academy set specific inclusion goals as part of its A2020 initiative to double the number of women and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities by 2020. Through dedicated and intentional work by the Board of Governors and members on the branch executive committees, the Academy has surpassed both these goals.
“The Academy recently announced the next phase of its equity and inclusion initiative, Academy Aperture 2025, which will further the organization’s ongoing efforts to advance inclusion in the entertainment industry and increase representation within its membership and the greater film community.
“The initial phase of Academy Aperture 2025 outlined specific goals for the Oscars® and Academy governance, membership, and workplace culture.
“We take great pride in the strides we have made in exceeding our initial inclusion goals set back in 2016, but acknowledge the road ahead is a long one. We are committed to staying the course. I cannot give enough thanks to all our members and staff who worked on the A2020 initiative and to our head of Member Relations and Awards, Lorenza Muñoz, for her leadership and passion in guiding us through to this point and helping to set the path going forward. We look forward to continuing to foster an Academy that reflects the world around us in our membership, our programs, our new Museum, and in our awards,” said Academy CEO Dawn Hudson.
See the list of nominees:
Actors
Yalitza Aparicio – “Roma”
Awkwafina – “The Farewell,” “Crazy Rich Asians”
Zazie Beetz – “Joker,” “High Flying Bird”
Alia Bhatt – “Gully Boy,” “Raazi”
Bobby Cannavale – “The Irishman,” “The Station Agent”
Choi Woo-Shik – “Parasite,” “The Divine Fury”
Zendaya Coleman – “Spider-Man: Far from Home,” “The Greatest Showman”
Tyne Daly – “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming”
Mackenzie Davis – “Terminator: Dark Fate,” “Tully”
Ana de Armas – “Knives Out,” “Blade Runner 2049”
Kaitlyn Dever – “Booksmart,” “Detroit”
Cynthia Erivo* – “Harriet,” “Widows”
Pierfrancesco Favino – “The Traitor,” “Rush”
Beanie Feldstein – “Booksmart,” “Lady Bird”
Zack Gottsagen – “The Peanut Butter Falcon”
David Gyasi – “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” “Interstellar”
Adèle Haenel – “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “BPM (Beats Per Minute)”
Kelvin Harrison Jr. – “Waves,” “Luce”
Brian Tyree Henry – “If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Widows”
Huang Jue – “Long Day’s Journey into Night,” “The Lady in the Portrait”
Jang Hye-Jin – “Parasite,” “Poetry”
Jo Yeo-Jeong – “Parasite,” “The Target”
Udo Kier – “The Painted Bird,” “Shadow of the Vampire”
Lee Jung-Eun – “Parasite,” “Okja”
Eva Longoria – “Overboard,” “Harsh Times”
Natasha Lyonne – “Honey Boy,” “American Pie”
Tzi Ma – “The Farewell,” “Arrival”
George MacKay – “1917,” “Captain Fantastic”
Tim McGraw – “Country Strong,” “The Blind Side”
Thomasin McKenzie – “Jojo Rabbit,” “Leave No Trace”
Ben Mendelsohn – “Ready Player One,” “Animal Kingdom”
Rob Morgan – “Just Mercy,” “Mudbound”
Niecy Nash – “Downsizing,” “Selma”
Genevieve Nnaji – “Lionheart,” “Road to Yesterday”
Park So-Dam – “Parasite,” “The Priests”
Teyonah Parris – “If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Chi-Raq”
Florence Pugh – “Little Women,” “Lady Macbeth”
Hrithik Roshan – “Super 30,” “Jodhaa Akbar”
James Saito – “Always Be My Maybe,” “Big Eyes”
Alexander Siddig – “Cairo Time,” “Syriana”
Lakeith Stanfield – “Knives Out,” “Sorry to Bother You”
Yul Vazquez – “Gringo,” “Last Flag Flying”
John David Washington – “BlacKkKlansman,” “Monsters and Men”
Olivia Wilde – “Meadowland,” “Rush”
Constance Wu – “Hustlers,” “Crazy Rich Asians”
Wu Jing – “The Wandering Earth,” “Wolf Warrior”
Zhao Tao – “Ash Is Purest White,” “Mountains May Depart”
Directors
Ali Abbasi – “Border,” “Shelley”
Levan Akin – “And Then We Danced,” “The Circle”
Francesca Archibugi – “A Question of the Heart,” “Tomorrow”
Ari Aster – “Midsommar,” “Hereditary”
Icíar Bolláin – “Even the Rain,” “Take My Eyes”
Kat Candler – “Hellion,” “Jumping off Bridges”
Felipe Cazals – “El Año de la Peste,” “Canoa: A Shameful Memory”
Cristina Comencini – “Latin Lover,” “Don’t Tell”
Sebastián Cordero – “Europa Report,” “Crónicas”
Terence Davies – “The House of Mirth,” “The Long Day Closes”
Sophie Deraspe – “Antigone,” “A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile”
Mati Diop* – “Atlantics,” “A Thousand Suns”
Robert Eggers – “The Lighthouse,” “The Witch”
Luis Estrada – “The Perfect Dictatorship,” “Herod’s Law”
Sydney Freeland – “Deidra & Laney Rob a Train,” “Drunktown’s Finest”
Bette Gordon – “Handsome Harry,” “Variety”
Maggie Greenwald – “Sophie and the Rising Sun,” “The Ballad of Little Jo”
Megan Griffiths – “Sadie,” “The Night Stalker”
Alma Har’el – “Honey Boy,” “Bombay Beach”
Sterlin Harjo – “Mekko,” “Barking Water”
Kathleen Hepburn – “The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open,” “Never Steady, Never Still”
Jan Komasa – “Corpus Christi,” “Warsaw ’44”
Tamara Kotevska* – “Honeyland”
Alejandro Landes – “Monos,” “Porfirio”
John H. Lee – “Operation Chromite,” “71: Into the Fire”
Ladj Ly* – “Les Misérables”
Victoria Mahoney – “Yelling to the Sky”
Samira Makhmalbaf – “At Five in the Afternoon,” “The Apple”
Mai Masri – “3000 Nights,” “33 Days”
Akin Omotoso – “Vaya,” “Tell Me Sweet Something”
Matt Reeves – “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” “Cloverfield”
Ljubo Stefanov* – “Honeyland”
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers – “The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open,” “ćəsnaʔəm, the city before the city”
Maria Tognazzi – “Me, Myself & Her,” “A Five Star Life”
Jorge Alí Triana – “Bolívar Soy Yo,” “A Time to Die”
Matthew Vaughn – “Kick-Ass,” “Layer Cake”
Lulu Wang* – “The Farewell,” “Posthumous”
Wash Westmoreland – “Still Alice,” “Quinceañera”
Andrés Wood – “Araña,” “Violeta Went to Heaven
