Award-winning Filipino directors Lav Diaz and Brillante Mendoza have been invited to join the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the Class of 2017. AMPAS is the organization behind the Annual Academy Awards, more popularly known as the Oscars.
According to the AMPAS website, 774 new members from 57 countries have been invited to be part of the Academy, following their achievements and contributions in theatrical motion pictures. Diaz and Mendoza are the only Filipinos to be invited this year, according to a PEP.ph report.
More “Diverse” Class Of 2017
In 2016, the Academy was criticized for not recognizing the achievements of professionals who belong to the minority or the non-whites. On the verge of a boycott called by minority actors and directors, the Academy committed to improving the diversity of its members by the year 2020, according to Rolling Stone.
This year, the Academy says that 30 per cent of the invited members this year belong to People Of Color. They also note that 39 per cent of the new class are females. All of this is being done in the hopes of doubling the number of women and minority members by 2020.
Testament To World-Class Filipino Talent
Diaz and Mendoza will be joining other new members such as Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Carina Lau, Tony Leung and fellow directors Barry Jenkins, the Russo brothers and Guy Ritchie, among others.
Both directors have film entries in this year’s Academy awards but a Filipino film has never won in the Oscars. Mendoza previously won the Best Director award in the 2009 Cannes Film Festival for his film Kinatay, while his 2014 film Norte, The End Of History was the Philippine submission to the Oscars that year.
Diaz on the other hand won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice International Film Festival for The Woman Who Left. His 2016 Ma’Rosa was the Philippine entry to the Oscars’ Foreign Film category.