Melina Matsoukas claims the Lena Waithe-written drama didn't get any nominations at the Golden Globes because the HFPA members didn't even watch the movie.
- Dec 14, 2019
AceShowbiz - "Queen & Slim" director Melina Matsoukas has claimed Golden Globes voters didn't want to watch her film - which led to the movie missing out on any nominations at the 2020 ceremony.
The film, starring British actors Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya, tells the story of a young black couple who go on the run after a fatal encounter with a racist policeman. It had been tipped for success at the awards ceremony, so many people were left surprised when it didn't get a single nomination as the honourees were announced earlier this week.
However, director Melina told Variety that she wasn't surprised - as many of the voters from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), a group of around 90 international journalists who decide who should be nominated for a Golden Globe, hadn't even bothered to attend screenings of the film.
"We held three screenings for the HFPA and almost no members attended," she told the publication. "For me, it's reflective of their voting body. It's not reflective of the society in which we live in or the industry as it stands today. They don't value the stories that represent all of us, and those stories are so often disregarded and discredited, as are their filmmakers."
"It's extremely discouraging. It's extremely infuriating. And it just represents an archaic system that is full of people who don't value us."
A representative for the HFPA disputed Melina's allegations, insisting that all voters had been sent screeners of the film, so could have watched it at home rather than attending a screening event.
"The HFPA maintains that 'Queen & Slim' was in the conversation amongst the membership," they told Variety in a statement.
"Queen & Slim" wasn't the only movie snubbed from the Golden Globe nominations. The HFPA also attracted criticism for not nominating a single female filmmaker or screenwriter - despite Greta Gerwig and Lorene Scafaria having been among those tipped to earn nods for their respective movies "Little Women" and "Hustlers".