Films aiming to win Oscars now to meet diversity criteria: Academy

The organization that hands out the Academy Awards said Friday it would form a group to develop diversity and inclusion guidelines that filmmakers will have to meet in order for their work to be eligible for Oscars.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which has been criticised for honouring few movies and creators of colour, said the move and other steps represented a new phase of a 5-year effort



to promote diversity.

The group said in a statement it would work with the Producers Guild of America to convene a task force of industry leaders to develop “representation and inclusion standards” for Oscars eligibility by July 31 that will “encourage equitable hiring practices on and off screen.”

The rules will not apply to films vying for Oscars at the next ceremony in 2021.