Today’s Hottest Films Prove to Be Culturally Relevant with Multicultural Audiences, Yet Still Fail to Be Recognized by the Academy Awards

ANA’s AIMM (Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing) released their first ever Oscar’s Inclusion & Relevancy Report analyzing how the nominated films resonated with traditionally underrepresented audiences. The research draws upon Oppside’s analysis of accurate cultural portrayals in the movies gathered by its Cultural Insights Impact Measure (CIIM™). Learnings indicate that while the film industry has come a long way over the past several years when it comes to authentic depictions of culture in its body of work, there is still more to be done when it comes to the award industry recognizing these efforts.

CIIM™ tested 33 Oscar nominated movies through 18,000 evaluations among six audiences, Asian, Black, Hispanic (English/Bilingual/Spanish), LGBTQ, People with Disabilities and White Non-Hispanic, and found the following:

• None of the films that ranked in the cultural relevance top quartile across all segments are nominated in the Oscars Best Picture category.
• While nominated films CODA and King Richard ranked highly among People with Disabilities and African Americans, respectively, their recognition underscores the need for inclusion beyond casting and plot as both films put culture at the heart of their narratives.
• Only five of the 33 nominated movies, Encanto, Lost Daughter, Luca, Raya and the Last Dragon and Tick, Tick…Boom!, were perceived as highly culturally relevant by five or more audience segments.
• Animated films performed best for all segments, proving it is possible to tell stories and integrate settings that have the power to engage all audiences.

“CIIM™ analysis indicates that movie-goers want to see more than people that look like themselves on-screen. Viewers cherish accurate reflections of their rich identities, communities and culture, through integrated storylines, strong character portrayals and positive role models,” said Carlos Santiago, AIMM Co-Founder and Co-Architect of CIIM™.

Additionally, despite many challenges yet to overcome, Oppside’s Oscars Inclusion & Relevancy Report also found that more headway has been made on the big screen than the small one. CIIM™ also evaluated the other award shows, including Emmy’s (2021), People Choice (2021), Golden Globes (2022), SAG (2022), NAACP (2022) and GLAAD (2021) nominations, and found within the same diverse groups:

• 40% of Black viewers ranked Emmy nominated TV shows as “Best-In-Class,” the top relevancy quartile, along with 37% of People with Disabilities, 27% of Hispanic viewers, 27% of LGBTQ, 24% of White Non-Hispanics, and 10% of Asians.
• Whereas 70% of Black viewers, 55% of Hispanics, 47% of People with Disabilities, 22% of LGBTQ, and 20% of Asians ranked the nominated movies across all awards shows as “Best-in-Culture.”

Hollywood continues to advocate for fair and accurate portrayals across all screens, oftentimes taking matters into their own hands to create content that resonates. And, major celebrities are partnering with AIMM to give a voice to oftentimes marginalized communities.

“The report clearly illustrates that while the film industry has come a long way over the past several years when it comes to authentic depictions of culture in its body of work, there is still more to be done when it comes to the award industry recognizing these efforts,” said AIMM Co-Founder Lisette Arsuaga.

To learn more about AIMM and CIIM™, or to get involved in the #SeeALL movement, visit www.anaaimm.net.