{"id":64195,"date":"2023-02-08T14:44:50","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T19:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=64195"},"modified":"2023-02-08T14:44:55","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T19:44:55","slug":"woman-king-director-skewers-chasm-between-black-excellence-and-recognition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/woman-king-director-skewers-chasm-between-black-excellence-and-recognition\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Woman King’ Director Skewers \u2018Chasm Between Black Excellence and Recognition\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Director Gina Prince-Bythwood is speaking out against inequities in Hollywood. (Credit: Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Film director<\/a> Gina Prince-Bythwood is having some trouble getting her latest project off the ground, she says \u2013 mostly because the executives involved want something that doesn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They \u201cwere adamant that the director we chose be a Black Oscar-winning director,\u201d Prince-Bythewood<\/a> wrote in a new op-ed<\/a> published in The Hollywood Reporter. But \u201cin the 95-year history of the Academy Awards, no Black filmmaker has ever won best director. No Black woman has ever been nominated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this year will not be different. In fact, no women directors of any race were nominated for this year\u2019s Oscars. And Prince-Bythewood \u2013 who directed the 2022 summer surprise hit \u201cThe Woman King,\u201d an historical drama about a troop of African women warriors which garnered nods from both the Critics Choice Awards and the BAFTAs \u2013 is not surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n

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She is, however, frustrated. But not just for herself, she noted in The Hollywood Reporter. Rather, she called her film\u2019s omission from every category \u201ca reflection of where the Academy stands and the consistent chasm between Black excellence and recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite vowing to increase diversity<\/a> among both awards voters and nominees following the 2015 viral online campaign #OscarsSoWhite<\/a> \u2013 even introducing upcoming diversity standards<\/a> for films to meet for Oscars consideration \u2013 the Academy still has a major representation problem. It’s particularly persistent with black women directors. Ava DuVernay has perhaps come the closest, with her film “Selma” receiving a Best Picture nod in 2015, although she herself was not nominated for best director. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So Prince-Bythewood decided to speak up \u201con behalf of Black women whose work has been dismissed in the past \u2026 and for those who haven\u2019t even stepped on a set yet\u201d by commenting on the persistent lack of recognition from the Academy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also reported an overall lack of support leading up to the announcement of nominations, calling out Academy members who told her at screenings for her film that they hadn\u2019t actually wanted to attend. They wound up \u201cso surprised by how much they loved the film,\u201d she says \u2013 as if it were a compliment. \u201cTo hear that over and over, it\u2019s tough to stomach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, she adds, this problem is not unique to Hollywood. \u201cThis is a systemic American problem, which is why this felt so insidious and large,\u201d she wrote. \u201cIt\u2019s tough to enter something that\u2019s supposed to be judged on merit, but you know it\u2019s not a meritocracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Prince-Bythewood wants \u2013 and expects \u2013 more from the film industry, and its award-bestowing gatekeepers. After all, \u201cwhat does \u2018for your consideration\u2019 mean when you don\u2019t press play?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Gina Prince-Bythewood expressed her frustration with the ongoing lack of awards-show recognition given to Black women working in film.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":64197,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":false,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19477,73],"tags":[20951,21172,21173],"class_list":["post-64195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-women","category-happening-now","tag-diversity-in-film","tag-recognition-of-black-women","tag-systemic-inequities"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHear Wise Words from Woman Director Gina Prince-Bythewood<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gina Prince-Bythewood expressed her frustration with the ongoing lack of awards-show recognition given to Black women working in film.\" \/>\n<meta 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