Academy Awards 2020: Best Documentary nominations show 'big' categories the way when it comes to diversity
The 2020 Academy Award nominations left a lot to be desired. Movie-goers and critics immediately noticed the lack of nominations for women and people of color.
First, there was the fact that Greta Gerwig was not even nominated -- Gerwig has received multiple nominations at different award shows for directing 'Little Women' and won the award for Best Director from the National Society of Film Critics. Then there was the glaring lack of nominations in the acting category for people of color -- noticeably, for Lupita Nyong’o, Song Kang-ho and Jennifer Lopez, for 'Us', 'Parasite', and 'Hustlers'.
In 2015, when all acting categories were won by White actors, Twitter user April Reign started the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, which has since taken off in popularity. Reign's hashtag seemed more relevant when all acting categories were again won by White actors in 2016. While things got slightly better in 2017 with Mahershala Ali and Viola Davis winning two awards, in 2018, again, all awards were won by White actors. 2019, however, fared much better -- three of the four acting awards went to people of color -- Rami Malek, Mahershala Ali and Regina King.
However, the situation seems to be a lot different when it comes to the nominations for this year's Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short, however. In both categories, four out of five nominated films have been directed or co-directed by women. These categories also feature more nominations for people of color than any other category.
'American Factory' is the only American nominee in the Best Documentary Feature category, and interestingly, was produced by former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama. 'American Factory' -- which is about Chinese company Fuyao's factory in Moraine, a city near Dayton, Ohio, that occupies Moraine Assembly, a shuttered General Motors plant -- remains a strong contender to win.
Meanwhile, there are two Syrian nominations under Best Documentary Feature. While 'For Sama' focuses on Waad Al-Kateab's journey as the wife of Hamza Al-Kateab, one of the few doctors left in Aleppo as they raise their daughter Sama Al-Kateab during the Syrian Civil War, the Syrian-Danish 'The Cave' profiles Amani Ballour, a female doctor in Ghouta who is operating a makeshift hospital in a cave during the Syrian Civil War.
The other two nominations are Brazilian 'Honeyland' and Macedonian 'The Edge of Democracy'.
While 'American Factory' is directed by Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert and Jeff Reichert, 'The Cave' is by Feras Fayyad, Kirstine Barfod and Sigrid Dyekjær. 'The Edge of Democracy' is directed by Petra Costa, Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris and Tiago Pavan. On the other hand, 'For Sama' is directed by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts. 'Honeyland' is directed by Ljubo Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska and Atanas Georgiev.
The Best Documentary Short nominations include Yi Seung-Jun and Gary Byung-Seok Kam's 'In the Absence', -- about the 2014 sinking of the MV Sewol passenger ferry in South Korea -- 'Life Overtakes Me' (John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson), -- about refugee children in Sweden withdraw into a coma-like illness called Resignation Syndrome -- 'St. Louis Superman', (Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan) -- about the activist, battle rapper, and former politician Bruce Franks Jr -- 'Walk Run Cha-Cha', (Laura Nix and Colette Sandstedt)-- about middle-aged Vietnamese couple Paul and Millie Cao preparing for ballroom dancing in suburban Los Angeles 40 years after their separation due to the Vietnam War -- and Carol Dysinger and Elena Andreicheva's 'Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)' -- about Skateistan, a nonprofit organization, which started as a skate school in 2007 for girls from impoverished neighborhoods learning to read, write, and skateboard in Kabul, Afghanistan.
While the focus is generally on the big categories of acting, directing, and so on, the nominations for the documentary shorts and features have been glossed over. It's not enough, but it certainly shows that the Academy can embrace diversity. The question is, will the Academy do so while forsaking the big names that dominate Hollywood, at least in later years?
The 92nd Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 9, 2020, and will be televised live on ABC at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT.