It’s no secret that minorities don’t often find themselves in serious contention for Oscar in any category. The year they often refer to as the most “international” year for the Academy Awards was at the 2007 ceremony:
- Best Picture – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu (Producer) for Babel
- Best Director – Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu for Babel
- Best Actor – Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland
- Best Actor – Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness
- Best Actress – Penelope Cruz in Volver
- Best Supporting Actor – Djimon Hounsou for Blood Diamond
- Best Supporting Actor – Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls
- Best Supporting Actress – Adriana Barraza for Babel
- Best Supporting Actress – Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls
- Best Supporting Actress – Rinko Kikuchi for Babel
- Best Original Screenplay – Guillermo Arriaga for Babel
- Best Original Screenplay – Co-Writer Iris Yamashita for Letters from Iwo Jima
- Best Original Screenplay – Guillermo del Toro for Pan’s Labyrinth
- Best Adapted Screenplay – Alfonso Cuaron, Hawk Ostby, David Arata for Children of Men
The following year Oscar answered back with one African-American mention in the major categories (Ruby Dee in American Gangster) and Spaniard Javier Bardem winning the Oscar for No Country for Old Men. Name some acting or directing works by minorities that Oscar has overlooked that should have either been either nominated or taken home an Academy Award.
It’s easy to go back to last year and the heartbreaking loss for Viola Davis in Tate Taylor’s The Help (2011) but either Michelle Yeoh or Ziyi Zhang were perfectly worthy of Oscar nominations in Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). I’ve always been so much more taken by the work of Dennis Haysbert over Dennis Quaid in Todd Haynes’ Far from Heaven (2002).
The most head-scratching omissions have come in the form of Spike Lee whose stellar career has produced, directed, and written films like Do the Right Thing (1989), Malcolm X (1992), and 25th Hour (2002). While John Singleton and Lee Daniels carry the torch for Black filmmakers in Hollywood and AMPAS, Spike Lee still stands as one of the best they’ve never rewarded.
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Tags: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Dennis Haysbert, Entertainment/Culture, Far from Heaven, Film, Film soundtracks, Javier Bardem, michelle yeoh, Minorities, Oscar, Zhang Ziyi
18 Comments
Well just looking at last year there was the inevitable but no less regrettable snub of Adepero Oduye in Pariah, and A Separation probably deserved a BP nod as well (I think it may be the single most critically-acclaimed film of the century so far).
UBourgeois(Quote) (Reply)
FANTASTIC CHOICE on Oduye! She was on my ballot last year. She was absolutely incredible.
Clayton Davis(Quote) (Reply)
Though not too many people liked the movie itself, I was a big fan of Maya Rudolph’s work in “Away We Go”. Even with the problems the film has, she soars above all of them and is the key to the reason that film works at all. An even better film, 2007′s “Talk to Me”, would have also garnered nominations for Don Cheadle and Taraji P. Henson for me as well, even though they have already been nominated for other films (his was deserved, hers was not). And for one last note, while I was glad Penelope Cruz made it in for “Volver”, I would have also championed Carmen Maura and Pedro Almodovar getting nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best Director, respectively.
Josh P.(Quote) (Reply)
I wasn’t especially a fan of it, but the Inuit-produced THE FAST RUNNER received some strong praise, and a Foreign Film nomination would have been nice.
SHAFT isn’t a very good film as a whole, but a nomination for Richard Roundtree would have been welcome; for that matter, Gordon Parks deserved SOME kind of recognition for his film career.
JamDenTel(Quote) (Reply)
Spike Lee’s direction of 25th Hour and Anthony Mackie’s supporting turn in The Hurt Locker immediately spring to mind…
Joey Magidson(Quote) (Reply)
Cinematographer Bradford Young for any film he’s ever worked on (“Pariah”, “Middle of Nowhere” and “Restless City” would be my three). Not only is he THE best African American cinematographer working today, he’s one of the best cinematographers PERIOD. He’s very stylized but also evinces the beauty of African-American skin, which radiates on-screen. Oscar better find him.
Joseph Braverman(Quote) (Reply)
I’d nominate/give awards to:
Danny Glover for Lead Actor in The Color Purple
Djimon Hounsou for Lead Actor in Amistad
Forest Whitaker for Best Supporting Actor in Crying Game
Proman(Quote) (Reply)
Shareeka Epps in Half Nelson was amazing and should have been there with Gosling that year. Anthony Mackie as well for HN and Hurt Locker. Always thought Derek Luke should have a nom by now too. And finally a little off topic but there should be more black actors working in film as well! The Wire showcased so many talented black actors that it was such a shame when the show ended because of it’s exposure for these actors. Esp Idris Elba who I believe is destined for the Academy soon.
Brian(Quote) (Reply)
I totally agree with the Dennis Haysbert in Far From Heaven and Anthony Mackie for the Hurt Locker comments.
Some others:
Zoe Saldana – Avatar
Michael Pena – The Lucky Ones, Crash (one of my favorite performances ever)
Queen Latifah – Hairspray
Guillermo Del Toro – Pan’s Labyrinth (director)
Alfonso Cuaron – Children of Men (director)
Ivana Baquero – Pan’s Labyrinth
Sergi Lopez – Pan’s Labyrinth
Q’rianka Kilcher – The New World
Denzel Washington – Remember the Titans (kind of shocked he didn’t get nominated)
Sanaa Lathan – Love & Basketball
Marlon Wayans – Requiem for a Dream
Regina King – Jerry Maguire
Cuba Gooding Jr. – Boyz n the Hood
missionstatement1224(Quote) (Reply)
I was thinking of some of the other actors, especially Irrfan Khan and Michelle Yeoh. I thought Khan deserved a nomination for The Namesake over Jackie Haley, even though I would not recommend him for a win. Yeoh was fantastic in the otherwise bad, The Lady and surely deserved the nomination more than Rooney Mara. But these are the more recent ones from Asia that i was thinking of. Its seriously impossible to believe that only one Black woman has in the history of the Oscars won the Best Actress prize. I am sure, besides Viola, there are more actresses that we are missing now. One big loss for me is Cicely Tyson for The Sounders (1972) who I thought was much more deserving than Liza Minelli.
Anupam(Quote) (Reply)
Benicio del Toro for “Che” in 2008 and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” in 1998.
Brock Peters for “To Kill a Mockingbird” 1962.
Ken Watanabe in “Letters from Iwo Jima” 2006.
And I concur with the Anthony Mackie, Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo del Toro suggestions.
Steve Glansberg(Quote) (Reply)
Spike Lee is almost certainly the only choice for Best Director in 1989 that doesn’t make want strangle someone. Of course, they snubbed him and Do the Right Thing. One of Kim Basinger’s finest moments was calling the Academy out in the middle of presenting a nominee for the supposed prejudice. THAT take guts.
Also Samuel L. Jackson should have won in 1994, but not for Supporting Actor. He had just as much relevence to the plot as Travolta, and only slightly less screen time. That, and I wouldn’t have to choose between him or Landau for Supporting Actor. And no, I don’t think Hanks’s performance aged very well.
So far this year, I would very much like to see Nate Parker get a nomination for Arbitrage. He easily stole the entire movie.
koook160 (Robert MacFarlane)(Quote) (Reply)
Completely agree.
Rohit Ramachandran(Quote) (Reply)
Some that come to mind:
1967 – Sidney Poitier and Isabel Stanford should have been nominated and won for their supporting turns in ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner’. Poitier should have also been nominated in his supporting work in both ‘The Blackboard Jungle (1955) and ‘A Patch of Blue (1965).
1961 – Claudia McNeil should have a got lead actress nomination for ‘Raisin in the sun”
Joe Gouveia(Quote) (Reply)
Zhang Ziyi & Gong Li in Memoirs of a Geisha
Massimo(Quote) (Reply)
I remembered that I would have also picked Ken Wantanabe to win Best Supporting Actor for “The Last Samurai”.
Josh P.(Quote) (Reply)
Alfred Molina / Supporting Actor for FRIDA
Lourdes Varela / Lead Actress for THE ENEMY
(A 2008 film from Venezuela, Varela gives a chilling performance as the mother of a kid who is being held in jail, a random guy start talking to her and she tells her story, her drama and how she get there, this same guy is somewhat related to the fate his son is about to reach … )
Zhang Ziyi for / Lead Actress / The House of Flying Daggers
Ramirez(Quote) (Reply)
5 Things Black Indie Films Must Do To Compete In Hollywood. http://bit.ly/TlrwW5
Ed Sylvan(Quote) (Reply)