The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which gives out the Oscar awards, announced on June 25 that it had extended invitations to 487 artists and executives to join the organisation. Included in the list are actor Shabana Azmi, director S.S. Rajamouli, cinematographer Ravi Varman, producer Ritesh Sidhwani, choreographer Prem Rakshith, director Rima Das and costume designers Rama Rajamouli and Sheetal Sharma. Documentary filmmaker Hemal Trivedi has also been invited along with Indian-born Canadian director Nisha Pahuja. In the official announcement, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said of the new members, “These remarkably talented artists and professionals from around the world have made a significant impact on our filmmaking community.”

Rajamouli’s RRR and Pahuja’s To Kill A Tiger were nominated for Oscars in 2023 and this year respectively. “Naatu Naatu”, from the RRR soundtrack, made history when it won the Oscar for best original song. Das’s Village Rockstars was India’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film in 2017.

Last year, the AMPAS extended invitations to 398 artists and executives, including directors Mani Ratnam, Karan Johar and Shaunak Sen; composer M.M. Keeravani, cinematographer KK Senthil Kumar, production designer Sabu Cyril, and producer Siddharth Roy Kapur.

Among the list of invitees this year are 71 Oscar nominees, including Anatomy of a Fall’s director Justine Triet and lead actor Sandra Hüller (Hüller was also seen in The Zone of Interest last year); actor Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who found her breakout role in The Holdovers; actor Lily Gladstone, who earned critical acclaim for her performance in Killers of the Flower Moon; and Koji Yakusho, from Wim Wenders’s Perfect Days. Greta Lee and Teo Yoo, who played the lead pair in Past Lives, are also part of the Academy’s Class of 2024, along with the film’s director Celine song and editor Keith Fraase. Of the 2024 class, 44% identify as women, 41% belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 56% are from 56 countries and territories outside the United States of America (USA). Last year, the invitees included 40% women and 34% from underrepresented ethnic/racial communities while 52% of the invitees were from 50 countries and territories outside the USA.

Casting Director: Mukesh Chhabra | In Focus