The director of 12 Years a Slave, Steve McQueen has recently discussed the latest controversy surrounding the Oscars.
Steve McQueen is the only black director whose film has won a Best Picture Oscar. But, he’s demanding the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Hollywood filmmakers to increase the amount of diversity.
“I’m hoping in 12 months or so we can look back and say this was a watershed moment, and thank God we put that right,” the “12 Years a Slave” director told the U.K.’s Guardian in a story posted online Sunday.
The director is the latest industry insider to address the latest criticism and calls for change after the Oscar nominations were announced on January 14th, and not a single actor of color received a nomination for the second year in a row.
“Hopefully, when people look back at this in 20 years, it’ll be like seeing that David Bowie clip in 1983,” said McQueen, referring to a video that went viral after Bowie’s death, in which the artist criticized MTV about the lack of black artists on the network.
“I don’t even want to wait 20 years,” McQueen said.
While, Steve McQueen agreed with Spike Lee’s boycott, he firmly believes the issue is bigger than the Academy Awards.
“One could talk about percentages of certain people who are Academy members and the demographics and so forth, but the real issue is movies being made,” said McQueen. “Decisions being made by heads of studios, TV companies and cable companies about what is and is not being made. That is the start. That is the root of the problem.”
