Hollywood's Diversity Struggle: Only 15% of Studio Films in Last 5 Years Directed by Filmmakers of Color

John Singleton, “Boyz N the Hood” (1991) • Two years after Spike Lee was passed over for a nomination for “Do the Right Thing,” John Singleton became the first African American to earn a Best Director nomination for his star-studded drama set in South Central L.A. That year, Jonathan Demme won the award for “The Silence of the Lambs.”

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Lee Daniels, “Precious” (2009) • Eighteen years passed before a second African American filmmaker was recognized: Lee Daniels, for his gritty portrait of a young woman seeking to overcome a childhood of poverty and abuse. In another Oscar first, Kathryn Bigelow became the first female director to win the Oscar, for “The Hurt Locker.”

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Steve McQueen, “12 Years a Slave” (2013) • British director Steve McQueen gritty drama about American slavery picked up nine nominations, including one for his directing. While the film won Best Picture (and McQueen earned a statuette as a producer), he lost the directing prize to “Gravity” filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón.

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Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight” (2016) • Jenkins’ underdog indie pulled off a major upset, beating front-runner “La La Land” for Best Picture. But Damien Chazelle claimed the directing prize for the modern-day musical. (Jenkins did take home the statuette for Best Adapted Screenplay.)

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Jordan Peele, “Get Out” (2017) • Peele became the latest actor-turned-filmmaker to earn a Best Director nod, for his feature filmmaking debut. Peele won an Oscar for his original screenplay but Guillermo del Toro won Best Director for “The Shape of Water.”

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Spike Lee, “BlackKklansman” (2018) • Despite wide acclaim for such films as 1989’s “Do the Right Thing” and 1992’s “Malcolm X,” the pioneering filmmaker earned his first nomination decades into his career for this fact-based tale of a black undercover cop who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan.

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