Academy Invites 819 to Membership - Directors and Writers

ACADEMY SURPASSES GOAL TO DOUBLE NUMBER OF WOMEN AND UNDERREPRESENTED ETHNIC/RACIAL COMMUNITIES BY 2020

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 819 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures.  The 2020 class is 45% women, 36% underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 49% international from 68 countries.  There are 75 Oscar® nominees, including 15 winners, and five recipients of Scientific and Technical Awards.  Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership in 2020.

“The Academy is delighted to welcome these distinguished fellow travelers in the motion picture arts and sciences.  We have always embraced extraordinary talent that reflects the rich variety of our global film community, and never more so than now,” said Academy President David Rubin.

In 2016, the Academy set specific inclusion goals as part of its A2020 initiative to double the number of women and underrepresented ethnic/racial communities by 2020.  Through dedicated and intentional work by the Board of Governors and members on the branch executive committees, the Academy has surpassed both these goals.

The Academy recently announced the next phase of its equity and inclusion initiative, Academy Aperture 2025, which will further the organization’s ongoing efforts to advance inclusion in the entertainment industry and increase representation within its membership and the greater film community.  The initial phase of Academy Aperture 2025 outlined specific goals for the Oscars® and Academy governance, membership, and workplace culture.

“We take great pride in the strides we have made in exceeding our initial inclusion goals set back in 2016, but acknowledge the road ahead is a long one.  We are committed to staying the course.  I cannot give enough thanks to all our members and staff who worked on the A2020 initiative and to our head of Member Relations and Awards, Lorenza Muñoz, for her leadership and passion in guiding us through to this point and helping to set the path going forward.  We look forward to continuing to foster an Academy that reflects the world around us in our membership, our programs, our new Museum, and in our awards,” said Academy CEO Dawn Hudson.

Eight individuals (noted by an asterisk) have been invited to join the Academy by multiple branches.  These individuals must select one branch upon accepting membership.

Additionally, the membership status of all Artists’ Representatives (agents) will change from Associates to Members-at-Large.  As Members-at-Large, agents will now have Oscars voting privileges.

The 2020 invitees are:

Directors:
Ali Abbasi – “Border,” “Shelley”
Levan Akin – “And Then We Danced,” “The Circle”
Francesca Archibugi – “A Question of the Heart,” “Tomorrow”
Ari Aster – “Midsommar,” “Hereditary”
Icíar Bolláin – “Even the Rain,” “Take My Eyes”
Kat Candler – “Hellion,” “Jumping off Bridges”
Felipe Cazals – “El Año de la Peste,” “Canoa: A Shameful Memory”
Cristina Comencini – “Latin Lover,” “Don’t Tell”
Sebastián Cordero – “Europa Report,” “Crónicas”
Terence Davies – “The House of Mirth,” “The Long Day Closes”
Sophie Deraspe – “Antigone,” “A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile”
Mati Diop* – “Atlantics,” “A Thousand Suns”
Robert Eggers – “The Lighthouse,” “The Witch”
Luis Estrada – “The Perfect Dictatorship,” “Herod’s Law”
Sydney Freeland – “Deidra & Laney Rob a Train,” “Drunktown’s Finest”
Bette Gordon – “Handsome Harry,” “Variety”
Maggie Greenwald – “Sophie and the Rising Sun,” “The Ballad of Little Jo”
Megan Griffiths – “Sadie,” “The Night Stalker”
Alma Har’el – “Honey Boy,” “Bombay Beach”
Sterlin Harjo – “Mekko,” “Barking Water”
Kathleen Hepburn – “The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open,” “Never Steady, Never Still”
Jan Komasa – “Corpus Christi,” “Warsaw ’44”
Tamara Kotevska* – “Honeyland”
Alejandro Landes – “Monos,” “Porfirio”
John H. Lee – “Operation Chromite,” “71: Into the Fire”
Ladj Ly* – “Les Misérables”
Victoria Mahoney – “Yelling to the Sky”
Samira Makhmalbaf – “At Five in the Afternoon,” “The Apple”
Mai Masri – “3000 Nights,” “33 Days”
Akin Omotoso – “Vaya,” “Tell Me Sweet Something”
Matt Reeves – “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” “Cloverfield”
Ljubo Stefanov* – “Honeyland”
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers – “The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open,” “ćəsnaʔəm, the city before the city”
Maria Tognazzi – “Me, Myself & Her,” “A Five Star Life”
Jorge Alí Triana – “Bolívar Soy Yo,” “A Time to Die”
Matthew Vaughn – “Kick-Ass,” “Layer Cake”
Lulu Wang* – “The Farewell,” “Posthumous”
Wash Westmoreland – “Still Alice,” “Quinceañera”
Andrés Wood – “Araña,” “Violeta Went to Heaven”

Writers:
Narges Abyar – “Breath,” “Track 143”
Lucy Alibar – “Troop Zero,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
David Berenbaum – “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” “Elf”
Jez Butterworth – “Ford v Ferrari,” “Edge of Tomorrow”
John-Henry Butterworth – “Ford v Ferrari,” “Edge of Tomorrow”
Shane Carruth – “Upstream Color,” “Primer”
Jérémy Clapin* – “I Lost My Body”
Sabrina Dhawan – “Kaminey,” “Monsoon Wedding”
Mati Diop* – “Atlantics,” “A Thousand Suns”
Susanna Fogel – “Booksmart,” “The Spy Who Dumped Me”
Michel Franco – “Chronic,” “After Lucia”
Giordano Gederlini – “Les Misérables,” “The Invader”
Han Jin Won – “Parasite”
Julia Hart – “Fast Color,” “Miss Stevens”
Gregory Allen Howard – “Harriet,” “Ali”
Amy Jump – “A Field in England,” “Sightseers”
Ladj Ly* – “Les Misérables”
Alexis Manenti – “Les Misérables”
Stella Meghie – “The Photograph,” “Jean of the Joneses”
Najwa Najjar – “Between Heaven and Earth,” “Eyes of a Thief”
Tyler Nilson – “The Peanut Butter Falcon”
Mateusz Pacewicz – “Suicide Room: Hater,” “Corpus Christi”
Pamela Pettler – “Monster House,” “Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride”
Michael Schwartz – “The Peanut Butter Falcon”
Lulu Wang* – “The Farewell,” “Posthumous”
Krysty Wilson-Cairns – “1917”
Wally Wolodarsky – “Trolls World Tour,” “Monsters vs Aliens”

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