This year’s Academy Awards was full of firsts: from the fact that there wasn’t an official host, to the fact that a superhero movie was even nominated. The great event finally started attending demands that the public has been making for years.Ruth E. Carter was the first black woman to win Best Costume Design | Image Source: IMDb
Let’s keep in mind that the Oscar was already accused of being a racist award in previous years, due to the lack of black actors and actresses nominated for two years in a row (2015 and 2016): so it was about time to the Oscars recognize the talent of non-white artists as well.
Seven black artists won this year, including Spike Lee – Best Adapted Screenplay with BlacKkKlansman – who had already criticised the Academy and boycotted the prize in 2016.
Roma portrays the relationship of a family and their maids during the 70s | Image Source: Netflix
Another highlight is Roma. The movie was produced by the streaming service Netflix and received 10 nominations including Best Picture, Cinematography, Directing and Foreign Language Film. The director Alfonso Cuarón made history by being the first person winning Best Cinematography in a movie directed by himself. It was also the first Foreign Language award given to a mexican production and the first nomination of Best actress to an indigenous woman with Yalitza Aparicio.
Streaming services productions also appeared in documentary categories: Period. End of sentence (Netflix) won Best Documentary Short addressing such an important topic as menstruation in less developed countries, and how to improve the lives of girls and women from these places. Additionally, the Hulu documentary Minding the Gap was nominated for Documentary Feature and portrays the life of three young americans and their growth during 12 years, touching subjects like domestic violence and substance abuse.
Miles Morales at Spider-Man: Into the spider verse | Image Source: Sony Pictures Animation
Marvel made history as well having the first superhero movie nominated for Best Picture with Black Panther. The blockbuster received 7 nominations and won 3 of them: Music Written for Motion Pictures, Production Design and Costume Design. Marvel’s animation Spider-Man: Into the spider verse won Best Animated Feature Film, a category with heavyweight nominees like Incredibles 2 and Ralph Breaks the Internet. Spider-Man shows a half black, half Latino superhero Miles Morales bringing more diversity to the category.
Finally, the 91st Academy Awards brought a more diverse selection of movies, more connected with what people are actually watching and with a more varied collection of artists. There’s still some things that could be better and some polemics, like the accusations towards the Best Picture winner Green Book, but a lot of progress has been made and we definitely should celebrate it!