(LA) The Oscars won’t overrule Andrea Riseborough’s Best Actress nomination, despite the unorthodox promotional campaign that propelled the film’s star To Leslie in the race for statuettes, the Academy which awards these prizes announced on Tuesday.
The selection of this British actress, who has beaten stars like Viola Davis, took Hollywood by surprise last week and created controversy.
Because the feature film To Lesliein which she plays an alcoholic mother filled with remorse after having squandered her fortune won at the lottery, had not shone at the box office.
With barely $27,000 in receipts, hardly anyone had seen it in theaters. And the production hadn’t embarked on a costly marketing campaign, a usually key element for films hoping to win an Oscar.
Instead, Andrea Riseborough benefited from insistent lobbying from industry stars like Gwyneth Paltrow and Edward Norton, who raved about her performance on social media.
PHOTO ARCHIVE MOMENTUM PICTURES, PROVIDED BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Andrea Riseborough in To Leslie
Effective campaign or cheat? After investigation, the Academy spared the goat and the cabbage.
“The activity in question has not reached a level requiring the cancellation of the film’s nomination,” the group responsible for awarding the Oscars said in a statement Tuesday.
“However, we discovered social media campaign tactics […] which have raised concerns. These tactics are discussed directly with the responsible parties,” the institution explained.
The Oscars are awarded by the approximately 9,500 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, divided among the 17 branches of the industry.
That of the actors includes approximately 1300 voters: a candidate needs a little more than 200 votes to see his name on the list of nominees.
It is precisely these members who have allegedly been targeted with emails and social media posts in support of Andrea Riseborough.
A publication on Instagram, for example, offered to support the actress of To Leslieas American actresses Danielle Deadwyler and Viola Davis “would be nominated anyway” for their performance in till and The Woman King.
But neither star was shortlisted for the Best Actress Oscar, which has no African-American nominees this year. Enough to fuel the controversy over the lack of diversity of these awards, recurring since 2015 and the appearance of the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.
According to the Academy, “elements of the rules need to be clarified to help create a better framework for respectful, inclusive and impartial campaigning”.
But no changes are expected until the end of the next Academy Awards, which will take place on March 12.