Oscars 2018: Storytellers grounded in reality

The #OscarsSoWhite campaign two years ago highlighted the lack of ethnic diversity among Academy Award nominees. The problem persists, but this year's honourees are a little less white and male, especially in the prestige categories of Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, with three nominations apiece for Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) and Jordan Peele (Get Out), and screenplay nods for Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon (The Big Sick) and Dee Rees (Mudbound). Alison de Souza talks to some of them in Los Angeles

(From left) Jordan Peele, nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon, nominated for Best Original Screenplay.
(From left) Jordan Peele, nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon, nominated for Best Original Screenplay. PHOTOS: AFP
Director Jordan Peele is the first African American in the running for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the upcoming Oscars.
Director Jordan Peele is the first African American in the running for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the upcoming Oscars.PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Comedian Kumail Nanjiani and his wife, writer Emily Gordon (both above), turned their courtship story into the sleeper hit, The Big Sick.
Comedian Kumail Nanjiani and his wife, writer Emily Gordon (both above), turned their courtship story into the sleeper hit, The Big Sick.PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
  • Published
    Mar 1, 2018, 5:00 am SGT
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Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay

Get Out, director Jordan Peele's satirical horror comedy, was nothing short of a cultural phenomenon in the United States last year.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 01, 2018, with the headline 'Storytellers grounded in reality'. Subscribe
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