CAIRO/RIYADH: Eight Middle East filmmakers have been invited to join Hollywood’s Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as the organization behind the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, reaches out to a global membership.
The list includes four Egyptians — actress Yousra, director Amr Salama, and producers Mohamed Hefzy and Karim Amer — along with Lebanese cinematographer Christopher Aoun and production designer Hussein Baydoun, both of whom worked on the 2018 Oscar-nominated “Capharnaum.”
Earlier this week the academy extended invitations to 842 new members from 59 countries working in directing, acting and production.
The move is part of attempts by the academy to diversify its roster of members, and become more inclusive and global.
Last year Egyptian director Mohamed Diab was invited to join the academy.
Director Amr Salama told Arab News: “Now I have become an official member of the Oscar academy and a member of the judging committee sitting next to many of the world’s best filmmakers.
“I hope to join other Arab filmmakers every year so that we can show the world what we have in cinema. I thank the academy for their choice,” he said.
Producer Mohamed Hefzy said that it is “the honor of any filmmaker in the world” to be selected for an Oscar committee.
“Now I’m not just watching the Oscars, but am one of those who have the right to vote for awards,” he said.
Hefzy said that the selection of the eight Arab filmmakers “shows there is a new outlook, and this is honorable and delightful.”
The academy also extended invitations to Syrian director Talal Derki, an Oscar nominee for best documentary for “Of Fathers and Sons,” and Yemeni director Khadija Al-Salami, who won acclaim for her 2014 film “I Am Nojoom, Age 10 and Divorced.”
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