The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday announced 819 invitees, which includes Alia Bhatt and Hrithik Roshan. Casting director Nandini Shrikent, documentary filmmakers Nishtha Jain and Amit Madheshiya, costume designer Neeta Lulla, visual effects supervisors Vishal Anand and Sandeep Kamal are among other Indian artists to be invited by the academy.
Academy President David Rubin said, “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.” The academy is responsible for organising the Oscars. Invitations are sent out to a few, and if the invitees accept the invitation, which most do, they will have the voting rights at Oscars 2021.
The Academy announced that this year, it has surpassed its goal set in 2016, to double the number of women and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities by 2020. The organisers set this goal in the wake of #OscarsSoWhite controversy that influenced millions. The 2020 class is inclusive of 45 per cent women, 36 per cent underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 49 per cent international from 68 countries.
The 2020 batch also includes diverse Hollywood talents like Cynthia Erivo, John David Washington, Constance Wu, Zazie Beetz, Florence Pugh, Zendaya, Awkwafina, Ana de Armas, Adele Haenel, Thomasin McKenzie, Olivia Wilde and others.
Academy’s CEO Dawn Hudson said, “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.”
“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.” He added.
The Oscars 2021 ceremony is scheduled for April 25. Last year, the organisation had a list of 842 new members which included filmmakers Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap and veteran actor Anupam Kher.
