On Tuesday, the Academy Awards gathered its nominees for the annual Oscar Luncheon, leading up to the ceremony. It is a chance for film industry members to meet and mingle, and we were glad to see that all the Arab nominees were able to find one another during the event.
President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, John Bailey, spoke at the event, and praised the list of nominees for its diversity. “This year has the largest class of women nominees. Inclusion, diversity, racial, ethnic and gender equality are not just buzzwords. They go to the heart of what our Academy is doing.”
This years is also notable for its Arab nominees, as Nadine Labaki, Talal Derki, and Rami Malek are all up for an Oscar for the first time in their careers. The Lebanese director took to her Instagram stories, to share some behind the scenes photos from the luncheon, one of which included a selfie with her fellow Arab nominees. She went on to post the picture on her film’s Instagram account, captioned, “Lebanese, Syrian and Egyptian nominees at the #Oscar luncheon!”
