Can the Oscars lobbying machine ever be fair?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 27 February 2023
⏱️ 28 minutes
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Summary
This week the final round of voting opens for the 95th Academy Awards – and the Oscars are embroiled in a row about diversity again. The latest controversy centres around a shock nomination for best actress, raising questions about the fairness of the system. Just how significant are race, power and celebrity friends in the campaign to win an Oscar?
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Guest: Kevin Maher, chief film critic, The Times.
Host: David Aaronovitch.
Clips: ITV, ABC, Good Morning America, BBC, NBC, Nine Network.
Film credits: Gladiator - Dreamworks Pictures/Universal Pictures; Till - MGM Studios/Orion Pictures; The Woman King - Sony Pictures/Entertainment One; To Leslie - Momentum Pictures; Shakespeare In Love - Miramax Films/Universal Pictures.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | They've been on the campaign trail for some time now. It's grueling. But if you're going |
| 0:10.6 | to win, you have to make like you love it. |
| 0:14.1 | Please wear the show, Paul Muscle, everybody. |
| 0:16.4 | And they're bringing freezer. |
| 0:17.5 | Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleason. |
| 0:19.8 | Please welcome Michelle. |
| 0:21.5 | Keep bling it. |
| 0:22.5 | Film awards, the statuettes, plaques and globes get given to those who convince a small select |
| 0:34.9 | group of people to vote their way. And the biggest gift of all is in the hands of those |
| 0:40.3 | who in this final week of voting will decide who gets the Oscars. |
| 0:47.0 | Me in the day of Jane Fonda and Robert Redford, this was an uncontroversial business, but not |
| 0:53.7 | anymore. And certainly not this year. |
| 0:57.2 | The nominations are in for the 2023 Academy Awards. And as always, there are plenty of surprises |
| 1:04.2 | to be found. |
| 1:05.3 | The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, releasing a statement not mentioning any |
| 1:09.7 | film by name, but saying they'll be conducting a review of the campaign procedures around |
| 1:14.7 | this year's nominees to ensure that no guidelines were violated. |
| 1:21.3 | The statement may not have name names, but still everyone knew. |
| 1:26.4 | One nomination for a British actress was a bit too much of a surprise. |
| 1:31.8 | Just days before Academy members began voting on the nominees, there was a sudden surge |
| 1:36.0 | of a-lister support, with stars including Charlize Thuron, Edward Norton and Gwyneth Paltrow |
| 1:41.7 | hosting screenings of the film. |
... |
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