The complete list of Oscar nominees has been in circulation for a short while now and amongst them is Antonio Banderas who, for the first time, is in the running to take home the award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Salvador Mallo in Pedro Almódovar's 'Pain and Glory'. As often is the case during the awards season, this nomination has been received with a generous helping of controversy.
Following the announcement of the nominees, several U.S. Publications such as Deadline published articles in which they referred to Antonio Banderas, a Spaniard, as a "person of colour" and therefore the exception to the distinct lack of diversity within the principal categories.
Según ?@DEADLINE?, Antonio Banderas es una persona de color.
? Sr. Finch (@Sr_Finch_) January 13, 2020
Madre mía, la raza aria. pic.twitter.com/uqPFJ9AgT9
Tweet reads: "According to Deadline, Antonio Banderas is a person of colour. My goodness, the Aryan race".
"Only two black actors were nominated in the main acting categories whilst women were absent in best direction", tweeted Deadline, a well-known U.S. media outlet, alongside a link to their full article. The article has since been edited to erase any mention of Banderas as a "person of colour" and the tweet has been removed.
Pedro Almodóvar, the director behind 'Pain and Glory', attended the Premios Feroz 2020 in the Community of Madrid on the 16th January, where we were able to ask his opinion on the dispute, which he has deemed to be "a bad joke".
Spain takes on the Academy Awards
Though 'Pain and Glory' dominates discussions of Spain's Oscar chances in the upcoming ceremony, they have received a total of three nominations across various categories. In the category of Best Animated Feature Film, 'Klaus', an animated festive flick, is a contender, though it will have to compete against big titles such as 'How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World', 'I Lost My Body', 'Missing Link' and 'Toy Story 4' if they want to take home that golden statuette.
On the other hand, Antonio Banderas has entered the Oscar race for Best Actor for his aforementioned role in 'Pain and Glory'. The drama has also received a nomination in the Best International Feature Film category alongside 'Corpus Christi', 'Honeyland', 'Les Misérables' and 'Parasite'.
The ceremony of the 92nd edition of the Academy Awards will take place on the 9th February at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Following on from last year's tradition, the gala will proceed without a host.
