The Oscar Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the world, is an honor given by the American Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for different categories of the film business. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences adds new members to the Oscar Academy list every year. This time 487 new members have been invited to join it.
The Academy announced on social media on Tuesday that 487 new members from 57 countries have been invited. If all of them accept the invite, the number of members will increase to 10,910, out of which more than 9000 people will be eligible to vote.
The people who have been invited by the Academy include the names of many people including Shabana Azmi, SS Rajamouli, Ritesh Sidhwani and Rama Rajamouli. The names of 71 Oscar nominees and 19 Oscar winners are also included in the invited members.
44 percent of those invited were women. 41 percent are from underrepresented ethnic groups and 56 percent are people who come from countries and territories outside the United States.
Academy CEO Bill Cramer said, “We are excited to add new members to the Academy. These talented artists and professionals from around the world have made a deep impact on the filmmaking community.
Apart from actress Shabana Azmi, director SS Rajamouli, costume designer Rama Rajamouli and producer Ritesh Sidhwani, invitations have been sent to other people from the Indian Film Fraternity. These include the names of costume designer Sheetar Sharma, director Rima Das, documentary filmmaker (To Kill a Tiger) Nisha Pahuja and Gitesh Pandya from marketing.