Filmmakers must be very careful if they want to produce a film eligible for Oscars. From 2024, only films meeting the recently announced requirements can be nominated for the Best Picture category. The criteria were born in the spirit of inclusion, but they also generated outrage. Someone wrote that the category should be called Most Politically Correct Picture from now.

Starting in 2024, there will be new requirements for the Oscar nomination for Best Picture, the US Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced. These requirements are designed to promote inclusion and diversity.

Under the new guidelines, films must meet two of four standards, the first of which being on-screen representation. Films must have at least one of the lead actors or significant supporting actors from an underrepresented racial or ethnic group. The list of those groups includes Asian and African American people, among others.

Another requirement is that at least 30 per cent of all actors in minor roles are from underrepresented groups. Furthermore, the story or theme of the film should be built around such a group.

The second standard applies to crew involved in production, including for instance make-up artists, hair stylists and technicians. Crew should also include members of underrepresented groups.

The third standard affects interns while the fourth concerns marketing and communication teams. The new standards equally apply to them, i.e. underrepresented groups, such as women and certain ethnic groups should be involved.

The announcement provoked mixed response. Some people were happy to hear the news and took to social media to post comments, for instance, saying that „Majority of my life, I ve watched mostly white actors on screen, championing stories from characters that do not necessarily look like me, or reflect anything remotely-like my life.” Others, however, were outraged and perplexed what the new requirements had to do with the quality of movies.

Richard Grenell, former Acting Director of National Intelligence, hit the nail right on the head, writing in a tweet that Democrats controlling Hollywood demanded these changes to the Oscars. The Academy Awards are no longer about the Best Picture, but about the Most Politically Correct Picture, he added.