Ava DuVernay, the film director best known for her 2014 Academy Award-winning film "Selma," opened up about the 2016 Oscars boycott and controversy about the lack of diversity among its nominees in major award categories during a luncheon in Utah on Sunday, the New York Times reported.
"We're hearing a lot about diversity," DuVernay said during her speech at the luncheon, as reported by the New York Times. "I hate that word so, so much."
"I feel it's a medicinal word that has no emotional resonance, and this is a really emotional issue," she continued. "It's emotional for artists who are women and people of color to have less value placed on our worldview."
DuVernay's speech comes just two days after the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science approved changes to diversify its members, with a goal of "doubling the number of women and diverse members of the Academy by 2020," read a press release posted via the official Oscars website.
The decision stemmed from the outpour of criticism from moviegoers and movie stars on social media because of the lack of diversity among the nominees. Actors Jada Pinkett-Smith, Will Smith and director Spike Lee have all announced that they will not attend the Oscars due to the controversy, as previously reported by HNGN.
But DuVernay said she would rather the conversation around the Oscars controversy include the words "inclusion" and "belonging" instead of "diversity."
"There's a belonging problem in Hollywood," DuVernay said, according to the New York Times. "Who dictates who belongs? The very body who dictates that looks all one way."
