Rewarded for his role in Joker with the prize for best actor at the Bafta in London on Sunday evening, Joaquin Phoenix deplored the racism that permeates the film industry. The actor took advantage of his speech to recall his status as "privileged" compared to his black colleagues: "We send a very clear message to people of color, that you are not welcome here", a- he denounced, calling for "doing the hard work to really understand systemic racism".
Before the ceremony, it was the president of the Bafta, Pippa Harris, who deplored the absence of women nominations in the best director category, while they "represent the future of the industry". She also found it "exasperating" and "disappointing" that no black actor has been named in the main categories.
#OscarsSoWhite
Critics had started to flourish in early January on social media, in part under the hashtag #BaftaSoWhite ("Bafta so white"). They then found an important spokesperson in the person of Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen, denouncing "far too neglected black talents" in the newspaper The Guardian .
The lack of diversity will also be at the heart of the Oscars which will take place next Sunday, and the slogan #OscarsSoWhite ("Oscars so white") is already shaking up the most prestigious cinematographic awards in Hollywood. Five years after its appearance, this hashtag has become a real rallying cry, and made an unexpected return on social networks recently, when the Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences, which awards the precious golden statuettes, unveiled the list candidates.
Apart from the British Cynthia Erivo, all the actors and actresses vying for the Oscars this year are white. This did not really surprise April Reign, a former campaign finance specialist who left her job to devote herself full-time to the integration and representation of minorities. "It's been six years now, and every year that #OscarsSoWhitere comes back," she says. "I would like to see the end of it, but it will only end when we no longer need to talk about integration and representation problems," she adds.
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- Diversity
- Oscars
- Racism
- Joaquin phoenix
- Cinema