There’s been much chatter about the Academy’s past decade of diversity efforts post-#OscarsSoWhite controversy. But the drastic change in the Academy membership is not as tied to racial diversity as you’d casually think.
Ultimately, as proven by the most recent Academy Awards winners, the Oscars have gone international. Best Animated Feature winner “Flow,” Best Documentary Feature winner “No Other Land,” and Best International Feature winner “I’m Still Here” were the first Oscar wins for Latvia, Palestine, and Brazil (with the latter also the first Brazil-produced Best Picture nominee.)
While the Academy is U.S.-based, it’s been inclusive of global films for decades. They are not so boxed into the Best International Feature category anymore. So instead of one segment of the show honoring a filmmaker, most likely from Western Europe, we get the “In the Shadow of the Cypress” filmmakers shedding insight on the difficulty of obtaining a visa between the political issues in their home country of Iran and in America under the new Trump presidency.
Or the “No Other Land” filmmakers explaining the United States’ role in the conflict between Israel and Palestine, with co-director Yuval Abraham saying, “There is a different path, a political solution. without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people … and I have to say, as I’m here, the foreign policy in this country is helping to block this path.”
Again, the increase in international voters, spurred by cinematographer John Bailey’s time as the Academy president from 2017 to 2019, has not done as much as we’d hope to diversify the Academy racially. But diversity is more than just about having a group of winners with more than one skin color. One criticism of Adrien Brody and Mikey Madison‘s top acting wins alleges that voters continue to ignore the talents of younger men and older women, especially considering their main competitors were 29-year-old Timothée Chalamet and 62-year-old Demi Moore, respectively. Though most would agree that throwing out ageism allegations here would be egregious — they each had their wins throughout the season — age bias is something for members to consider when voting for future Oscars.
The 2025 Oscars actually did have some firsts that were more tied to talent’s racial and/or ethnic background. For instance, “Wicked” artisan Paul Tazewell became the first Black man, and only second Black person, to win the Oscar for Best Costume Design. His predecessor, Ruth E. Carter, happens to be the first and only Black woman to win an Oscar twice, in any category.
In that way, Carter also is a forerunner for “Emilia Pérez” star Zoe Saldaña, who became the second Afro-Latina to win Best Supporting Actress, and the first Latina to do so for a role other than Anita in “West Side Story.”
Diversity, equity, and inclusion have become hot-button topics in America, usually as a way to sneak discriminative practices back into institutions. However, it’s a concept audiences and voters ought to continue to support for the sake of a healthy film ecosystem, which director Sean Baker spoke of while accepting the Oscar for “Anora.” Whatever the flaws, a more international Academy has started to send the message that no matter your country of origin, an Oscar win is still within reach, even as an independent film project with limited distribution.
