Oscars 2019 nominations: Jada Pinkett Smith appreciates diversity

With the Academy unveiling its 2019 Oscar nominations last week, this year, we are seeing historic firsts and recognition of diverse films. The #OscarsSoWhite was deleted this year as a more diverse group of actors have been nominated for the upcoming 91st Oscars.Jada Pinkett Smith, who boycotted the Oscars in 2016 along with director Spike Lee and others because there were mostly white nominees that year, is thrilled about numerous diverse Oscar nominees this year. The actress and producer has been a steady presence on television since the early nineties, be it A Different World or Gotham. Her movie roles have varied widely including Set It Off, Matrix 2 and 3, or Girls Trip. Quite recently, she produced a new film, Hala, which premiered last weekend at the Sundance Film Festival, 2019. Written and directed by Minhal Baig and produced by Jada Pinkett Smith, Hala stars Gabriel Luna, Anna Chlumsky, Azad Khan and Geraldine Viswanathan. After the nominations were announced, Jada Pinkett took to her official Instagram page and wrote, “Ok Oscarsss!!!” along with a photo of various nominees. At the Variety Sundance studio presented by AT&T, the actress spoke about representation in the 2019 Academy Awards nominations. “Well you know, I feel like we’re making strides. I’m about walking the walk,” Jada Pinkett Smith shared.“And that’s one of the reasons why part of my work has been helping artists like Minhal [Baig] and flowing resources to artists like herself,” she said of the Hala writer-director, who is known for employing a nearly all woman-led crew and was one of the many artists of colour shut out of Oscars nominations this year.She further went on to say, “It takes people like myself in the industry to do that. I feel like there’s most awareness and I do feel like there’s more movement in that direction.”Following Spike Lee’s boycott of the ceremony in 2016, Pinkett joined in the #OscarsSoWhite debate, tweeting about the lack of coloured Oscar nominations. “It was all love. Sometimes as family, we have to push each other,” she spoke of her relationship with the Academy, which she shared, has been very receptive. “That’s just what it takes. And sometimes that push is not pretty, but we heard each other and things are happening and we made adjustments very quickly, and I’m very grateful for that,” she said of Academy leader Cheryl Boone Isaac, addressing the issues raised. “And as you see, it’s changed a lot. My part as an artist is to make sure that I continue to do my part in regards to help facilitate inclusivity and diversity, in regards to stories that are told in our industry,” she concluded.–With information from Variety

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