Veteran American actor and two-time Oscar winner, George Clooney has given his take on the nominations for this year’s award.
Criticism from different quarters has trailed the awards billed for February 28, after an all-white acting nominees list was announced, for the second time in a row.
According to the 54-year-old, blacks and Hispanics deserve better recognition than they are currently being accorded by the organisers of the Academy awards.
In an interview with Variety, he said: “All of a sudden, you feel like we’re moving in the wrong direction.”
“I think that African Americans have a real fair point that the industry isn’t representing them well enough. I think that’s absolutely true.
“If you think back 10 years ago, the Academy was doing a better job. Think about how many more African Americans were nominated.
“For Hispanics, it’s even worse. We need to get better at this. We used to be better at it.
“There should be more opportunity than that. There should be 20 or 30 or 40 films of the quality that people would consider for the Oscars.”
Clooney mentioned that the Academy Awards organisers should have considered Will Smith in Concussion, Idris Elba in Beasts of No Nation for best actor, as well as Creed and Straight Outta Compton for best picture.