Daniel Kaluuya and Tiffany Haddish join film Academy in fresh diversity push

In 2014, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite started to trend when the acting and directing nominees included no one of color, a situation that repeated itself in 2015. In 2016, the Academy president, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, announced a diversity initiative to produce a more representative membership, doubling both women and people of color by 2020.

Last year saw 774 members invited, a record at the time, with this year’s new batch breaking that by almost 20%. This year’s 928 invitees are also from 59 countries, including France’s Blue is the Warmest Color star Léa Seydoux, Chilean A Fantastic Woman star Daniella Vega and Swedish The Square director Ruben Östlund.

Overall, membership is improving but there is still work to be done to reach the 2010 goal. Women now account for 31% of the Academy and people of color make up 13%. The basic requirement for members is that they must have “demonstrated exceptional achievement in the field of theatrical motion pictures”.

Other new members include Call Me by Your Name nominee Timothée Chalamet, Downsizing star Hong Chau, comedian Dave Chappelle, Little Miss Sunshine nominee Abigail Breslin, The Big Sick nominee Kumail Nanjiani and Ocean’s 8 star Mindy Kaling.