For some, it`s the "white male rage" Oscars. Others have dubbed it the year of "Big Men, Little Women." Despite four years of efforts to address the #OscarsSoWhite furor, the winners` podium at Sunday`s Academy Awards is expected to be made up entirely of white actors and no female directors. 
 
Of the nine best picture nominees at this year`s Oscars, just one - "Little Women" - is a story about and made by women, while just one of the 20 acting nominees is a person of colour-&nbsp;"Harriet" star Cynthia Erivo. Neither is expected to take home the biggest honors in the movie industry. 
 
"The whole Hollywood system can sometimes feel like a bit of a boys` club," said Taika Waititi, director of Oscar-nominated Nazi satire "Jojo Rabbit." 
 
It`s been 10 years since Kathryn Bigelow became the first and so far only woman to win the best director Academy Award, for her war film "The Hurt Locker." This year, "Little Women"s Greta Gerwig was the biggest omission in the director race. 
 
Despite a banner 2019 in which women made up 21 percent of all directors, writers, producers and cinematographers on the top 250 grossing films, including "Captain Marvel" and "Frozen II," those gains largely failed to translate into honours at awards season. 
 
"As a culture, we still value stories about men more than we value stories about women, and if there is a healthy dose of violence in those movies, even better," said Martha Lauzen, founder of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/oscars-2020-from-joker-to-parasite-heres-how-you-can-watch-all-best-film-nominees-in-india-277488">Oscars 2020: From Joker to Parasite, here's how you can watch all Best Film nominees in India</a> 
 
"On the one hand, of course, these awards are frivolous and seem silly at times, but the fact is they translate into visibility, and visibility translates into opportunities and higher salaries," she said. 
 
Since 2016, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose members choose the Oscar winners, has doubled the number of women and people of colour in its invitation-only ranks. Yet, by 2019 just 32% of its approximately 8,000 members were women, and 16% were people of colour. 
 
EXPAND BEST DIRECTOR SLOTS 
 
Lauzen, who has been chronicling the presence of women on screen and behind the camera for 22 years, has one suggestion that could improve matters more quickly than waiting for the academy to catch up. 
 
"Expanding the best director category to include more spaces strikes me as an elegant, simple and transparent way to make room for others," Lauzen said.<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/hollywood-news-oscars-2020-mark-ruffalo-gal-gadot-mindy-kaling-and-others-announced-as-presenters-277375">Mark Ruffalo, Gal Gadot, Mindy Kaling and others announced as presenters</a> 
 
There are currently just five slots in the best director field but up to 10 movies can be nominated for the top prize of best picture. 
 
"The academy could do a lot to help," said Olivia Wilde, director of high school comedy "Booksmart," which was snubbed. 
 
"When they nominate a movie for best picture but not the director, it begs the question `Are they discounting the amount of effort and dedication and thought that went into that?`" she said. 
 
The academy noted that a record 62 women got Oscar nominations this year, almost one-third of the field, including a screenplay nod for Gerwig, an editing nomination for Thelma Schoonmaker for "The Irishman," and an original score nod for Hildur Guonadottir for "Joker." 
 
Sam Mendes, the Oscar-nominated director of best picture front-runner "1917," said there was "an enormous number of talented female directors coming through." 
 
"I just think it`s a process and it is taking a long time. Some years it is good and some years, like this year, it has been a fallow and frustrating year," Mendes added.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/oscars-2020-from-year-1969-to-2019-see-the-most-shocking-outfits-of-the-red-carpet-277841">Oscars: The most shocking outfits on the red carpet over the years</a> 
 
Last year was a different story, at least in terms of ethnic diversity. Spike Lee won in the screenplay field for "BlacKkKlansman," while Rami Malek, Regina King and Mahershala Ali took acting Oscars, and Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron won three for "Roma." In 2017, "Moonlight," about a gay black youth growing up in an impoverished Miami neighbourhood, was named best picture. 
 
This year, Erivo, a London-born actress with Nigerian parents, has not picked up enough support at other award shows to make her a likely winner at the Oscars, awards pundits say. 
 
Eddie Murphy failed to make the cut for his well-reviewed comeback comedy "Dolemite Is My Name," along with Jennifer Lopez for "Hustlers" and social justice drama "Just Mercy," starring Oscar winner Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan. Also see:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/oscars-2020-nominees-to-get-lavish-gifts-worth-of-215000-278302" hreflang="en">Oscars 2020: Find out what's inside $215,000 gift bag of nominees this year</a> 
 
Foxx and Jordan both removed themselves from the diversity debate, at least publicly, saying they wanted to respect those who were nominated. 
 
"We don`t want to cloud their moment," Foxx said on the red carpet, two days after Oscar nominations were announced in January. 
"However anybody feels about anything, let`s let them enjoy their time," he said.

Oscars

For some, it`s the "white male rage" Oscars. Others have dubbed it the year of "Big Men, Little Women." Despite four years of efforts to address the #OscarsSoWhite furor, the winners` podium at Sunday`s Academy Awards is expected to be made up entirely of white actors and no female directors.

For some, it`s the "white male rage" Oscars. Others have dubbed it the year of "Big Men, Little Women." Despite four years of efforts to address the #OscarsSoWhite furor, the winners` podium at Sunday`s Academy Awards is expected to be made up entirely of white actors and no female directors. Of the nine best picture nominees at this year`s Oscars, just one - "Little Women" - is a story about and made by women, while just one of the 20 acting nominees is a person of colour- "Harriet" star Cynthia Erivo. Neither is expected to take home the biggest honors in the movie industry. "The whole Hollywood system can sometimes feel like a bit of a boys` club," said Taika Waititi, director of Oscar-nominated Nazi satire "Jojo Rabbit." It`s been 10 years since Kathryn Bigelow became the first and so far only woman to win the best director Academy Award, for her war film "The Hurt Locker." This year, "Little Women"s Greta Gerwig was the biggest omission in the director race. Despite a banner 2019 in which women made up 21 percent of all directors, writers, producers and cinematographers on the top 250 grossing films, including "Captain Marvel" and "Frozen II," those gains largely failed to translate into honours at awards season. "As a culture, we still value stories about men more than we value stories about women, and if there is a healthy dose of violence in those movies, even better," said Martha Lauzen, founder of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University. Oscars 2020: From Joker to Parasite, here's how you can watch all Best Film nominees in India "On the one hand, of course, these awards are frivolous and seem silly at times, but the fact is they translate into visibility, and visibility translates into opportunities and higher salaries," she said. Since 2016, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whose members choose the Oscar winners, has doubled the number of women and people of colour in its invitation-only ranks. Yet, by 2019 just 32% of its approximately 8,000 members were women, and 16% were people of colour. EXPAND BEST DIRECTOR SLOTS Lauzen, who has been chronicling the presence of women on screen and behind the camera for 22 years, has one suggestion that could improve matters more quickly than waiting for the academy to catch up. "Expanding the best director category to include more spaces strikes me as an elegant, simple and transparent way to make room for others," Lauzen said.Mark Ruffalo, Gal Gadot, Mindy Kaling and others announced as presenters There are currently just five slots in the best director field but up to 10 movies can be nominated for the top prize of best picture. "The academy could do a lot to help," said Olivia Wilde, director of high school comedy "Booksmart," which was snubbed. "When they nominate a movie for best picture but not the director, it begs the question `Are they discounting the amount of effort and dedication and thought that went into that?`" she said. The academy noted that a record 62 women got Oscar nominations this year, almost one-third of the field, including a screenplay nod for Gerwig, an editing nomination for Thelma Schoonmaker for "The Irishman," and an original score nod for Hildur Guonadottir for "Joker." Sam Mendes, the Oscar-nominated director of best picture front-runner "1917," said there was "an enormous number of talented female directors coming through." "I just think it`s a process and it is taking a long time. Some years it is good and some years, like this year, it has been a fallow and frustrating year," Mendes added. Oscars: The most shocking outfits on the red carpet over the years Last year was a different story, at least in terms of ethnic diversity. Spike Lee won in the screenplay field for "BlacKkKlansman," while Rami Malek, Regina King and Mahershala Ali took acting Oscars, and Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron won three for "Roma." In 2017, "Moonlight," about a gay black youth growing up in an impoverished Miami neighbourhood, was named best picture. This year, Erivo, a London-born actress with Nigerian parents, has not picked up enough support at other award shows to make her a likely winner at the Oscars, awards pundits say. Eddie Murphy failed to make the cut for his well-reviewed comeback comedy "Dolemite Is My Name," along with Jennifer Lopez for "Hustlers" and social justice drama "Just Mercy," starring Oscar winner Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan. Also see: Oscars 2020: Find out what's inside $215,000 gift bag of nominees this year Foxx and Jordan both removed themselves from the diversity debate, at least publicly, saying they wanted to respect those who were nominated. "We don`t want to cloud their moment," Foxx said on the red carpet, two days after Oscar nominations were announced in January. "However anybody feels about anything, let`s let them enjoy their time," he said. Oscars

92nd Academy Awards is all set for an all-white ceremony dominated by the men

Debate is raging inside a dark, cavernous soundstage on the Warner Bros Ranch -- about a mushroom.&nbsp;

One film crew member wants to try lighting the six-inch prop from the right. Another favours the left.&nbsp;

Richard Crudo, a veteran Hollywood cinematographer whose credits include 'American Pie,'&nbsp;observes for a moment before stepping in.

"If you can light it right, you're going to get an Academy Award," he says, with a wry smile.

Crudo is overseeing 30 or so young interns from the elite "Academy Gold" summer program, set up by the industry body in a bid to promote diversity in the aftermath of the #OscarsSoWhite campaign.

The scheme is targeted at those from underrepresented backgrounds -- women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities.

It sees aspiring filmmakers attend panels and workshops across Los Angeles in collaboration with Tinseltown giants including Disney, Sony and Paramount -- before each is paired up with a mentor.

Crudo -- a member of the Academy, which hands out the Oscars -- says Hollywood has taken these steps after finally realizing its rich, white male-centred universe was "just an untenable situation."

"It's hard for everyone to crack in, and especially hard for minority people and people who've been underrepresented in the industry for many years," he says.

"It was time -- it was high time."

- 'Getting there' -

On this day, the interns have been split into five groups, each tasked with turning the same deliberately opaque script into a movie scene showcasing a genre of their choosing.

The current team has opted for "alternative" and is aiming for a surreal, David Lynchian aesthetic -- cue a laughing mannequin in a cowboy hat, plenty of intense brooding stares and that bizarre mushroom.

Optimism about the industry's direction among the young auteurs -- some of whom started working in movies after the #OscarsSoWhite, #MeToo and #TimesUp movements began -- is palpable.

"We have a very good thing happening. Do I think it's at my pace? Like, no, I would have half this crew... it would be equal," says 22-year-old Alyssah Powell, cinematographer for the day.

"The day that I can go to the Oscars, and there's as many female nominees as there are male nominees, then I'll be satisfied for sure.

"But, you know -- we're getting there."

Many of the 120-odd trainees participating in the program run by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had already obtained internships or work at major studios and were hand-picked to apply.

Powell, who started in film at 19 and has minor credits for "Kong: Skull Island" and "Pacific Rim: Uprising," feels lucky to have gained a toehold so early -- but also credits her own perseverance.

"If I always went into an interview, or went on to a set being like, 'Oh, well, I'm a woman...,' not only am I thinking that, now I'm projecting that onto others," she says.

"It's easy to also get discouraged by stuff like that. But, you know, take it with a grain of salt. We're on the up -- this is a good movement."

- 'Stubbornly static' -

There is also awareness that change takes time, more is required, and opportunities such as this program are not available for everyone.&nbsp;

This year's "Hollywood Diversity Report" found women and minorities have made modest gains but remain underrepresented in the industry compared with their share of the population.

Women held 32.9 per cent of lead acting roles in movies -- up nearly two percentage points from 2016, but still far short of their share of 50 per cent of the overall population.&nbsp;

"Advances for people of colour and women remain fairly incremental, if not stubbornly static," the University of California Los Angeles authors wrote.

The interns who spoke with AFP all say they have not personally experienced discrimination in the industry due to their race, gender or background, but know plenty around them who have.&nbsp;

"When the directors and the production company heads don't normally look like you, it can be difficult," says Terion Ford, a 26-year-old African-American from Dallas.

Ford says he believes change is coming about because Hollywood executives have finally realized that viewers want to see stories told from the perspective of those living them.

"Not everybody's on board, not everybody wants change," he says.

"But I'm saying there's going to be a point where they're going to be like, 'Alright, we can't beat them -- we've got to join them'."

Debate is raging inside a dark, cavernous soundstage on the Warner Bros Ranch -- about a mushroom. One film crew member wants to try lighting the six-inch prop from the right.

Debate is raging inside a dark, cavernous soundstage on the Warner Bros Ranch -- about a mushroom. One film crew member wants to try lighting the six-inch prop from the right. Another favours the left. Richard Crudo, a veteran Hollywood cinematographer whose credits include 'American Pie,' observes for a moment before stepping in. "If you can light it right, you're going to get an Academy Award," he says, with a wry smile. Crudo is overseeing 30 or so young interns from the elite "Academy Gold" summer program, set up by the industry body in a bid to promote diversity in the aftermath of the #OscarsSoWhite campaign. The scheme is targeted at those from underrepresented backgrounds -- women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. It sees aspiring filmmakers attend panels and workshops across Los Angeles in collaboration with Tinseltown giants including Disney, Sony and Paramount -- before each is paired up with a mentor. Crudo -- a member of the Academy, which hands out the Oscars -- says Hollywood has taken these steps after finally realizing its rich, white male-centred universe was "just an untenable situation." "It's hard for everyone to crack in, and especially hard for minority people and people who've been underrepresented in the industry for many years," he says. "It was time -- it was high time." - 'Getting there' - On this day, the interns have been split into five groups, each tasked with turning the same deliberately opaque script into a movie scene showcasing a genre of their choosing. The current team has opted for "alternative" and is aiming for a surreal, David Lynchian aesthetic -- cue a laughing mannequin in a cowboy hat, plenty of intense brooding stares and that bizarre mushroom. Optimism about the industry's direction among the young auteurs -- some of whom started working in movies after the #OscarsSoWhite, #MeToo and #TimesUp movements began -- is palpable. "We have a very good thing happening. Do I think it's at my pace? Like, no, I would have half this crew... it would be equal," says 22-year-old Alyssah Powell, cinematographer for the day. "The day that I can go to the Oscars, and there's as many female nominees as there are male nominees, then I'll be satisfied for sure. "But, you know -- we're getting there." Many of the 120-odd trainees participating in the program run by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had already obtained internships or work at major studios and were hand-picked to apply. Powell, who started in film at 19 and has minor credits for "Kong: Skull Island" and "Pacific Rim: Uprising," feels lucky to have gained a toehold so early -- but also credits her own perseverance. "If I always went into an interview, or went on to a set being like, 'Oh, well, I'm a woman...,' not only am I thinking that, now I'm projecting that onto others," she says. "It's easy to also get discouraged by stuff like that. But, you know, take it with a grain of salt. We're on the up -- this is a good movement." - 'Stubbornly static' - There is also awareness that change takes time, more is required, and opportunities such as this program are not available for everyone. This year's "Hollywood Diversity Report" found women and minorities have made modest gains but remain underrepresented in the industry compared with their share of the population. Women held 32.9 per cent of lead acting roles in movies -- up nearly two percentage points from 2016, but still far short of their share of 50 per cent of the overall population. "Advances for people of colour and women remain fairly incremental, if not stubbornly static," the University of California Los Angeles authors wrote. The interns who spoke with AFP all say they have not personally experienced discrimination in the industry due to their race, gender or background, but know plenty around them who have. "When the directors and the production company heads don't normally look like you, it can be difficult," says Terion Ford, a 26-year-old African-American from Dallas. Ford says he believes change is coming about because Hollywood executives have finally realized that viewers want to see stories told from the perspective of those living them. "Not everybody's on board, not everybody wants change," he says. "But I'm saying there's going to be a point where they're going to be like, 'Alright, we can't beat them -- we've got to join them'."

Post #OscarsSoWhite campaign, Hollywood trainees see progress on diversity

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92nd Academy Awards is all set for an all-white ceremony dominated by the men

Post #OscarsSoWhite campaign, Hollywood trainees see progress on diversity