This year's Oscar lineup features the most black nominees ever


The Oscars aren't quite so white this year.
On Tuesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its nominees for the 2017 Academy Awards. In doing so, the Academy also debuted its largest-ever number of black nominees, The New York Times reports. Three films led by black actors — Moonlight, Hidden Figures, and Fences — all scored Best Picture nominations, while six black actors were nominated for lead or supporting roles. Moonlight director Barry Jenkins and four black documentarians also secured nominations.
The Oscars have traditionally been dominated by white actors — a controversy that came to a head in 2015, when the nominee line-up triggered the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag calling out the Academy for its not-so-diverse nominations. The hashtag returned in 2016 when things did not sufficiently improve.
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But this year, it seems like the Academy may have listened to all those complaints. You can see the full list of nominees at the Academy's website.
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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
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