You’re not alone if you’re wondering why Gina Prince-film Bythewood’s “The Woman King,” which stars Oscar winner Viola Davis and received an A+ Cinemascore, was left out of the Oscar race this year.
In a first-person piece for The Hollywood Reporter published on Tuesday, Prince-Bythewood reflected on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ (the governing body responsible for the prestigious awards) exclusion of her film, which she says left her “disappointed.”
“But the Academy made a very loud statement,” she wrote, adding that she rejects the term “snub” in reference to “The Woman King” because “a snub is if it missed out on a category or two,” and her film “was not nominated for a single craft.”
Prince-Bythewood stated that she “agreed to speak up, on behalf of Black women” who were also overlooked this year, such as director Chinonye Chukwu and actress Danielle Deadwyler of “Till,” as well as “those who haven’t even stepped foot on a set yet.”
She wrote that “The Woman King,” which is on track to pass $100 million at the global box office, not being nominated for any category is “a reflection of where the Academy stands and the consistent chasm between Black excellence and recognition. And, sadly, this is a problem in every industry, not just Hollywood.”
The director, who was behind “Love & Basketball” in 2000 and “The Old Guard” in 2020, also alluded to the controversy surrounding Andrea Riseborough’s surprise nomination for best actress, which some claimed led to Davis’ exclusion from the category.
“My issue with what happened is how industry people use their social capital – screenings in their homes, personal calls, personal emails, personal connections, elevated status,” Prince-Bythewood wrote. “People like to say things like, ‘Well, Viola and Danielle (Deadwyler, who also didn’t get nominated) had studios behind them.’ But we just saw that social capital is far more valuable than that.”
Following a review of the film’s celebrity-backed grassroots campaign, the Academy delayed Riseborough’s nomination.
“There is no groundswell from privileged people with enormous social capital to get behind Black women,” Prince-Bythewood lamented. There has never been.”
Following the uproar over #OscarsSoWhite and the April Reign movement, the Academy has made efforts in recent years to expand and diversify its membership.
In 2020, the Academy established a rule requiring films to meet certain representational criteria in order to be eligible for the Academy Award for best picture beginning in 2024.
CNN has reached out to both Prince-and Bythewood’s the Academy’s representatives for comment.
