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AFI FEST 2019 - Opening Night Gala - Premiere Of Universal Pictures' 'Queen And Slim'

Source: WENN/Avalon / WENN

Earlier this week, when the nominees for the Golden Globes were announced, several people noted the snubs—the worthy films and television programs that did not receive recognition. Many of the overlooked performances came from Black actors. We should note that this year was not the first the Golden Globes were critiqued for their lack of diversity.

And while some would argue that the voting committee simply wasn’t feeling these pieces of art, according to a recent interview with Queen and Slim director Melina Matsoukas, there’s a chance that the voters didn’t see these films at all.

Speaking to Variety, Matsoukas said that nearly all of the 90 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) refused to screen the film.

“We held three screenings for the HPFA and almost no members attended. For me, it’s reflective of their voting body. It’s not reflective of the society in which we live in or the industry as it stands today. They don’t value the stories that represent all of us, and those stories are so often disregarded and discredited, as are their filmmakers. It’s extremely discouraging. It’s extremely infuriating. And it just represents an archaic system that is full of people who don’t value us.”

In response to Matsoukas’ claim, a representative for the HFPA said that many of the members received screeners in the mail. “The HFPA maintains that Queen and Slim was in the conversation amongst the membership.”

Other sources corroborated Matsoukas’ claims stating that Universal Pictures lobbied to have HFPA members attend the three different screenings. But one person claimed that only 4 people (again, out of 90) attended. Another source claimed that 6,000 DVD copies of the film were created and mailed to various guilds. So there is a possibility that HFPA members watched away from the theaters.

But studios generally track the investment or interest of the HFPA members through polling numbers. Universal believed HFPA members were disinterested As such, they canceled a Golden Globes press conference scheduled for November 16. The studio did so because they didn’t believe the voters had even seen it.

When asked what she would say to HFPA members, Matsoukas, in reference to the events that took place at a HFPA fundraiser said, “Your time is over. I believe they’ve created an unsafe work environment. I was warned by three different people that I may be harassed or spoken to in an inappropriate way, which I was. I think there’s an extremely long way to go. I’m always going to be hopeful because that’s who I am, but I don’t have a lot of faith in any institutions in this country because they have always discredited and disregarded work by women and people of color. The fact that five women have ever been nominated for directing in the lifetime of the Academy is infuriating. It’s obviously very imbalanced. Until the body of the people voting on the projects reflects our society and the people making these projects, there will be no change.”

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