The nominees for the 89th Oscars were announced this morning, and diversity was center stage, thanks to movies like Fences (with four), Moonlight (which got six noms), Lion (which collected another six), and Hidden Figures (with three).
Seven black actors were among the 20 acting nominees, including best actor nominee Denzel Washington for Fences and best actress nominee Ruth Negga for Loving, and black directors dominated the documentary film category.
The presence of black actors was most in evidence in the acting categories: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) and Dev Patel (Lion) were both both nominated for supporting actor, and Viola Davis (Fences), Naomie Harris (Moonlight) and Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures) were nominated for supporting actress.
But there was also a wider range of diversity in the behind-the-scenes categories: Barry Jenkins received writing and directing nominations for Moonlight; Bradford Young, for his work on Arrival, became the second black cinematographers to be nominated (Remi Adefarasin was nominated for 1988’s Elizabeth); Joi McMillon, nominated along with Nat Sanders for Moonlight, became the first black woman to be nominated for film editing; and Kimberly Steward (Manchester by the Sea) became only the second black female producer, following Oprah Winfrey’s nomination for Selma, to be nominated for best picture. Ava Duvernay also nabbed her first Oscar nomination. Her 13th documentary was nominated in the Best Documentary category.
The 2017 Oscars will take place on Feb. 26 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and will air live at 5:30 p.m. PT.
