The three-time Academy award winner dismissed concerns of an all-white panel at the Berlin Film Festival, saying, “After all we’re all from Africa originally.”
The jury members at the 2016 Berlinale Film Festival in Germany.
Axel Schmidt / AP
Meryl Streep
Axel Schmidt / AP
Three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep is the latest actor to comment on a lack of diversity in the movie industry, a contentious debate that has led several celebrities to boycott the Oscars this year.
Heading an all-white jury at the Berlin Film Festival, Streep dismissed questions about the lack of diversity on the panel, saying, "We're all Africans really."
The seven-member jury includes German actor Lars Eidinger, British film critic Nick James, French photographer Brigitte Lacombe, British actor Clive Owen, Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher and Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska, The Associated Press reported.
Streep said she was committed to equality and inclusion "of all genders, races, ethnicities, religions."
"There should be inclusion, and this jury is evidence that at least women are included and in fact dominate this jury, and that's an unusual situation in bodies of people who make decisions," Streep told reporters. "So I think the Berlinale is ahead of the game."
"Inclusion is the name of the day," she said.
When asked if she understood films from the Arab world and North Africa, Streep admitted that she did not know much about the region but added, "I've played a lot of different people from a lot of different cultures."
"There is a core of humanity that travels right through every culture, and after all we're all from Africa originally," Streep said.
According to the AP, she then said, "Berliners, we're all Africans really." However, Variety reported that Streep, in an apparent reference to John F. Kennedy's famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner) quote, said, "We are all Africans, we are all Berliners."
In January, British actress Charlotte Rampling called the Oscar boycott "racist to white people" while Michael Caine said, "You can't vote for an actor because he's black. You can't just say, 'I'm going to vote for him. He's not very good, but he's black. I'll vote for him.' You have to give a good performance."
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1Pou55R
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