This year, there were 397 artists and executives invited to join the membership of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. This is slated to bring the total number of Academy members to 10,665, with 9,665 eligible to vote for the 95th Oscars set to take place on March 12, 2023.
Out of this number, some 44% are women, 37% belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 50% are from 53 countries and territories outside the United States.
We are of course super proud of the SWANA members added, which include mega Bollywood star Kajol, who starred in the top-grossing romance Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), a Hindi cinema classic. Among her Indian peers in The Academy are composer and producer A.R. Rahman, megastar Amitabh Bachchan, as well as superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Vidya Balan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan.
Iranian actor Amir Jadidi joins The Academy, and the part-time tennis player is best known internationally for his role as Rahim in Asghar Farhadi's A Hero, which won the Grand Prix at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. The film was Iran's entry to this year's Best International Film Oscar race, but did not receive a nomination.
Nan Palin, who is currently in London participating in the London Indian Film Festival with his latest, an ode to cinema in India, has also been asked to join The Academy, as is Indian documentarian Sushmit Ghosh.
Afghanistan-born filmmaker Gulistan Mirzaei has been asked along with his filmmaking and life partner Elizabeth -- the duo made the short Three Songs for Benazir which was nominated in 2021 -- and the Pakistani filmmaker Mohammed Ali Naqvi, who directed Insha’Allah Democracy and the 2015 praised Among the Believers.
Egypt's own Hesham Nazih, a composer responsible for the upcoming highly anticipated Marwan Hamed film Kira & El Gin, and the music on all six episodes of Mohamed Diab's Moon Knight, has also been asked to join, as is producer Thanassis Karathanos who co-produced Kaouther Ben Hania's Oscar nominated The Man Who Sold His Skin.
In the Short Films and Feature Animation section, Murad Abu Eisheh was asked to join. He wrote and directed Tala'vision, which was submitted to this year's Oscar race but didn't make the final cut. And also Lebanese-born animator Youssef "Joe" Haidar who most frequently works with Disney.
For the full list, check out The Academy website.
