Why Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde is disappointed with 2019 Oscar nominations

Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde reacts to the 2019 Oscar's nominees list.
Noting the lack of African representation, she shares her disappointment.
The popular Nollywood actress and three other Nigerians joined the academy in 2018.

Nigerian Oscar Academy member, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde shares her disappointment with 2019 nominations.

Following the release of this year's movie nominees, the popular Nollywood actress took to Instagram to express her sadness that no African movie made the list.

She said, "Wasn't So Excited No African Movie made it!" Omotola added, "Someday soon we will be doing this for Africans!"

Her fellow Nigerian Oscar Academy member, Femi Odugbemi, has also reacted to the nominations.

ALSO READ: Femi Odugbemi becomes a voting member of The Academy of OSCARS

Prior to the release of the 2019 Oscars' nominees list, the filmmaker and the brain behind 'Battleground', and 'Tinsel' shared his excitement after voting for the first time as an official Oscar judge.

Femi's official ballot as Oscar judge instagram/femiodugbemi

Diversity in the Oscars

Last year, Omotola and Femi were invited to join The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after the #OscarsSoWhite uproar.

Following the Academy's glaring diversity issue, the organization invited 928 new people from 59 countries.

49% of these new members were women while 38% were people of colour. The latter included the four people from Nigeria - the aforementioned Nollywood actress, British-Nigerian actress Wunmi Mosaku, and directors Femi and Ngozi Onwurah.

Other notable invitees include ‘Black Panther’ star Daniel Kaluuya, rapper Kendrick Lamar, actresses Jada Pinkett Smith and Tiffany Hadish.

The addition of these diverse invitees resulted in the highest number of members in the organization's history, topping 2017 list of 774 people, 2016 list of 683 and 2015's 322, according to Variety Magazine.

The global organisation's decision to shake things up might explain the remarkable difference in this year's list of nominees.

Oscar shakeup AMPAS

For the first time ever in Oscar history, a superhero movie, Ryan Coogler's 'Black Panther' has received a nomination for the 'Best Picture' category.

The Marvel's superhero film was also nominated for six other categories namely best costume design, best original score, best original song, best production design, best sound editing, and best sound mixing.

Other surprises include Netflix's 'Roma' getting nominated for 'Best Picture', this category is a first for the American streaming platform. It is also the first time a movie has become a best picture nominee without having box office grosses.

See the full list of this year’s nominees here.

The 91st Annual Academy Awards ceremony will hold on Sunday, February 24, 2019.