Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has named Nigerian filmmakers, Mo Abudu and Ramsey Nouah, among 395 members of its 2021 class.
The association unveiled the list, which featured prominent individuals in the movie landscape across 50 countries in the world, on Thursday.
It’s time to announce our new members! Meet the Class of 2021. https://t.co/17gbIEXOzJ #WeAreTheAcademy
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) July 1, 2021
Abudu was named in the producers category of the list for ‘Òlòturé and ‘The Royal Hibiscus Hotel’, her hit movies released in 2020 and 2017 respectively.
While, Nouah also made the cut in the actors category for his roles in ‘76’, a movie released in 2016, and ‘The Figurine’, his 2009 film.
This is quite an impressive feat and continues to put the country’s movie industry in a positive light.
Reacting, Mo Abudu confirmed the the good news on her Instagram page on Friday, July 2, saying she is proud to be one of the 29 producers from around the world who received this invitation.
She disclosed that she is the only Nigerian and African woman in the producer category.
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It would be recalled that in 2020, top Nollywood actress, Genevieve Nnaji, Nigerian-British actress, Cynthia Erivo and popular filmmaker, Akin Omotosho, were invited to join Oscars’ voting body.
Read Also: Filmmakers Genevieve Nnaji, Akin Omotoso Join The Academy’s 819 Membership Invitees
In 2018, Omotola-Jalade Ekeinde and Femi Odugbemi were also invited as members of the Oscars’ voting body.
The Academy Awards, aka Oscars, had come under backlash for seemingly being so white, earning them the hashtag #OscarSoWhite on social media.
The backlash led to the Academy diversifying the members of its voting body in order to give everyone a chance. In order to increase the diversity of the voting body, 819 new members were invited in 2020 with 45% of them being women and 35% of them from underrepresented ethnic or racial communities.
