The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced diversity criteria for films competing for the Best Picture Oscar awards.
According to the statement released on its website, the new criteria will take effect with films released in the year 2024 and only films that meet at least two of the four new standards will qualify for the 96th Oscars in 2025.
“Today, the AMPAS announced new representation and inclusion standards for Oscars eligibility in the Best Picture category, as part of its Academy Aperture 2025 initiative,” the statement read.
“The standards are designed to encourage equitable representation on and off-screen in order to better reflect the diversity of the movie-going audience.
“Academy governors DeVon Franklin and Jim Gianopulos headed a task force to develop standards that were created from a template inspired by the British Film Institute (BFI) Diversity Standards.”
One of the new rules also calls for the involvement of women, from a racial or ethnic group, from the LGBTQ+ community, people with cognitive or physical disabilities, or who are deaf or hard of hearing to qualify for this criteria on screen-acting.
“We believe these inclusion standards will be a catalyst for long-lasting, essential change in our industry,” Academy President David Rubin and Academy CEO Dawn Hudson has said in a statement.
“The aperture must widen to reflect our diverse global population in both the creation of motion pictures and in the audiences who connect with them.”
