News Analysis India

Tag: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

  • ‘RRR’ team, Karan Johar, Mani Ratnam among new members invited by Oscars to join the Academy

    By PTI

    LOS ANGELES: The “RRR” team, including actors Ram Charan, Jr NTR and composer MM Keeravani, as well as filmmakers Mani Ratnam and Karan Johar are among the 398 artists and executives who have received invitations to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

    “RRR” lyricist Chandrabose, who along with Keeravani won the Oscar for best original song for the film’s blockbuster track “Naatu Naatu” in March, has also received an invitation.

    Two other invitees include “RRR” cinematographer KK Senthil Kumar and production designer Sabu Cyril, a press release stated.

    Indian names feature heavily in the Academy’s class of 2023 including Shaunak Sen, the director of the Oscar-nominated documentary, Siddharth Roy Kapur, the producer of India’s official Oscar entry “Chhello Show”, and Chaitanya Tamhane, known for critically acclaimed Marathi titles “The Disciple” and “Court” in the list.

    It also includes Girish Balakrishnan and Kranti Sarma from the field of production and technology; visual effects artists Haresh Hingorani and PC Sanath; film executive Shivani Rawat and Shivani Pandya Malhotra, the managing director of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival.

    According to the AMPAS, the class of 2023 includes 40 per cent women and 34 per cent from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities.

    52 per cent of the invitees are from 50 countries and territories outside the US.

    76 Oscar nominees, including 22 winners, are among the invitees.

    In a statement, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said the organization is proud to welcome the “artists and professionals into our membership”.

    “They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” they added.

    The Academy has been actively working to introduce more diversity in its voting to avoid a controversy like 2016 when the Oscars were dubbed “white” for failing to recognize talents of color.

    The 2023 batch boasts of major Hollywood names including Academy Award-winning actor Ke Huy Quan, Austin Butler, Kerry Condon, Bill Hader, Nicholas Hoult, Stephanie Hsu, Lashana Lynch, Paul Mescal, Park Hae-il, filmmaking duo The Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) and musicians Taylor Swift, Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and David Byrne.

    In 2022, the organization invited 397 new members, which included Indian names such as actors Kajol, Suriya, filmmakers Reema Kagti, Sushmit Ghosh, Rintu Thomas, and Pan Nalin.

    LOS ANGELES: The “RRR” team, including actors Ram Charan, Jr NTR and composer MM Keeravani, as well as filmmakers Mani Ratnam and Karan Johar are among the 398 artists and executives who have received invitations to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS).

    “RRR” lyricist Chandrabose, who along with Keeravani won the Oscar for best original song for the film’s blockbuster track “Naatu Naatu” in March, has also received an invitation.

    Two other invitees include “RRR” cinematographer KK Senthil Kumar and production designer Sabu Cyril, a press release stated.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Indian names feature heavily in the Academy’s class of 2023 including Shaunak Sen, the director of the Oscar-nominated documentary, Siddharth Roy Kapur, the producer of India’s official Oscar entry “Chhello Show”, and Chaitanya Tamhane, known for critically acclaimed Marathi titles “The Disciple” and “Court” in the list.

    It also includes Girish Balakrishnan and Kranti Sarma from the field of production and technology; visual effects artists Haresh Hingorani and PC Sanath; film executive Shivani Rawat and Shivani Pandya Malhotra, the managing director of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival.

    According to the AMPAS, the class of 2023 includes 40 per cent women and 34 per cent from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities.

    52 per cent of the invitees are from 50 countries and territories outside the US.

    76 Oscar nominees, including 22 winners, are among the invitees.

    In a statement, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said the organization is proud to welcome the “artists and professionals into our membership”.

    “They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” they added.

    The Academy has been actively working to introduce more diversity in its voting to avoid a controversy like 2016 when the Oscars were dubbed “white” for failing to recognize talents of color.

    The 2023 batch boasts of major Hollywood names including Academy Award-winning actor Ke Huy Quan, Austin Butler, Kerry Condon, Bill Hader, Nicholas Hoult, Stephanie Hsu, Lashana Lynch, Paul Mescal, Park Hae-il, filmmaking duo The Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) and musicians Taylor Swift, Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and David Byrne.

    In 2022, the organization invited 397 new members, which included Indian names such as actors Kajol, Suriya, filmmakers Reema Kagti, Sushmit Ghosh, Rintu Thomas, and Pan Nalin.

  • Suriya, Kajol invited to join the Oscars’ Class of 2022

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: Popular Tamil star Suriya, Bollywood actress Kajol, award-winning filmmaker Nalin Kumar Pandya aka Pan Nalin, Oscar-nominated documentary makers Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas, and Indian American ‘Deadpool’ and ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ producer Adiya Sood have been inducted into the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body that presents the Oscars each year.

    Suriya is the first South Indian actor to be inducted into the Academy to date.

    On Tuesday, the Academy released the list of 397 distinguished artists and executives it had invited to join the organisation in 2022. The Academy said the new members had been selected on the basis of their professional qualifications and their “ongoing commitment to representation, inclusion and equity”.

    ‘Variety’ notes that if all of this year’s invitees accept membership, it will bring the total number of Academy members to 10,665, with 9,665 eligible to vote for the 95th Oscars set to take place on March 12, 2023.

    The new invitees, 50 per cent of whom are from 53 countries and territories outside the United States, include 71 Oscar nominees, including 15 winners.

    Some of the big names invited are recent winners Ariana DeBose (‘West Side Story’) and Troy Kotsur (‘CODA’), and nominees Jessie Buckley (‘The Lost Daughter’), Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee (‘The Power of the Dog’).

    Also invited, according to ‘Variety’, are a slew of global artists such as Robin de Jess (‘Tick, Tick … Boom!’), Olga Merediz (‘In the Heights’) and Vincent Lindon (‘Titane’), director Reinaldo Marcus Green (‘King Richard’), screenwriters Jeremy O Harris (‘Zola’) and Jon Spaihts (‘Dune’), and pop star Billie Eilish, who also sang for ‘No Time to Die’.

    Lindon, incidentally, was the president of the competition section jury of the 75th Cannes Film Festival.

  • Beyonce confirmed to perform at Oscars 2022

    By ANI

    WASHINGTON: After several reports suggested that Beyonce might perform at this year’s Oscars, the singer has now been officially confirmed to take the stage at the ceremony.

    As per Variety, apart from Beyonce, the other celebrities slated to take the stage include her Best Original Song nominees.

    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Tuesday that Beyonce, Billie Eilish and Finneas, Reba McEntire, and Sebastian Yatra have been tapped to perform four of the five original songs nominated for Oscars this year.

    Beyonce will perform ‘Be Alive’ from ‘King Richard’, a song for which she is nominated alongside her co-writer Dixson. This would be her first live performance in almost two years.

    Beyonce hasn’t taken the stage for live performance since February 2020 when she performed ‘XO’ and ‘Halo’ at Kobe and Gianna Bryant’s A Celebration of Life. Two months later, amid the pandemic, she remotely joined other singing stars on Zoom for The Disney Family Singalong in April 2020 where she sang ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’.

    Her last performance on an award show stage was at the 2017 Grammy Awards where she sang ‘Love Drought’ and ‘Sandcastles’ off her sixth studio album ‘Lemonade’.

    Eilish and her brother Finneas will perform ‘No Time To Die’ from the Bond film of the same name. The pair are also nominees, having written the music and lyrics to the titular track.

    ‘Dos Oruguitas’ from the Disney movie ‘Encanto’ will be performed by Yatra. Music and lyrics for the song are by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is nominated this year for a second time following his 2017 nod for the song ‘How Far I’ll Go’ from ‘Moana’.

    McEntire will sing ‘Somehow You Do’ from the drama ‘Four Good Days’, starring Glenn Close and Mila Kunis. The song was written and composed by Diane Warren, who is enjoying a whopping 13th nomination in the Best Original Song category at the Oscars this year.

    The fifth song nominated in the category is ‘Down To Joy’ from Belfast, with music and lyric by Van Morrison. However, due to his tour schedule, Morrison will not be able to attend the telecast, and his song will not be performed.

    This year’s ceremony, produced by Will Packer and Shayla Cowan, will be held on March 27 at the Dolby Theatre and will air live on ABC at 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT. The award show will be hosted by Amy Schumer, Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes. 

  • COVID-19 vaccination required for Oscar nominees, guests, but not for performers, presenters

    By ANI

    WASHINGTON: This year’s Oscars, which will take place on March 27, will require proof of COVID-19 vaccination for most of the people in the audience at the show, but not for its performers and presenters.

    According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided on Thursday that nominees and guests must show proof of vaccination and two negative PCR tests, as first reported by a news outlet.

    However, while a production like the Oscars has the option of mandating vaccinations for its cast and crew, the Academy will rely on testing alone for presenters and performers, adhering to COVID safety protocols set by LA County’s Department of Health.

    This is a change from the policy that was first reported on February 9, in which the Academy was not planning to require proof of vaccination for nominees and guests.

    Face covering requirements will also vary, with some of the 2,500 guests at the Dolby Theatre allowed to go maskless and others seated in tighter spots remaining masked. Nominees and guests will be seated in portions of the theater not requiring masks.

    Other major awards shows leading up to the Oscars are requiring 100 per cent of their attendees to be vaccinated, including the SAG Awards on February 27 and the Critics Choice Awards on March 13.

    Joey Berlin, COO of the Critics Choice Association, previously told The Hollywood Reporter, “We will be 100 percent vaccinated and require a negative PCR test within 48 hours of the event. I can’t invite people to a show where they’re not going to feel safe.”