When Rami Malek, an American actor of Egyptian parentage, won an Oscar in 2019, he completed a journey started in 1963 by Egyptian star Omar Sharif, the first Arab actor to be nominated for an Academy Award.
It was an important moment for the region, although other Arab performers and filmmakers had been knocking on the door for years. Also in 2019, Lebanese director Nadine Labaki was the first Arab woman to have her film, Capernaum, nominated for an Oscar. Malek's was a relatively rare win for a non-white actor.
Diversity, again, has been an issue that was raised in coverage of this week’s Academy Awards. While it was heartening to see Indian production RRR win the Oscar for Best Original Song, Michelle Yeoh make history by becoming the first Asian woman to win Best Actress and former refugee Ke Huy Quan become the first Asian man in 38 years to win Best Supporting Actor, no black talent was nominated for a lead acting award and there were no women in the best director category.
The Oscars’ role as one of the world’s most significant cultural events lends the issue a seriousness that extends beyond mere entertainment. The prestige attached to the Academy Awards, which are meant to be a meritocratic celebration of achievement, means that any whiff of bias – unconscious or otherwise – can have a ruinous effect on their reputation.
It is a reputation that has come in for some very serious scrutiny in recent years. Research from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and the Adobe Foundation published this month found that of the more than 13,250 nominees at the Academy Awards since 1929, 17 per cent were women and 83 per cent were men. Of these nominees 6 per cent were from underrepresented racial or ethnic groups. The ratio of white to underrepresented nominees is 17 to 1.
There have been some improvements over the past decade in part due to vigorous activism. The #OscarsSoWhite hashtag started by writer and campaigner April Reign eight years ago was a reaction to the fact that in 2015 no women, outside female categories, or actors of colour were nominated in the 88th Academy Awards. According to the Annenberg research, since then “there have been notable increases in nominations for people of colour across 16 of 19 categories examined... Additionally, the overall percentage of underrepresented nominees more than doubled from 8 per cent (pre #OscarsSoWhite) to 17 per cent (post #OscarsSoWhite)”.
The campaign also led to changes in the Academy’s membership and operation, a process that is continuing. Next year, for example, the body will introduce new rules for Best Picture nominees, designed to foster inclusion, although time will tell what their impact will be.
None of this is to downplay the achievements of those who won this year, and films should, ultimately, be judged on their artistic merits. Neither are the Oscars the only awards where there can have been some startling results over the years – this year’s Bafta awards in the UK came in for criticism after its diverse selection of nominees resulted in not a single non-white winner.
It has been 83 years since Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Oscar. Nevertheless, last year it was reported that membership of the Academy is still more than 80 per cent white and nearly 70 per cent male. When it comes to diversity and inclusion at the top levels of filmmaking, it seems the final script has yet to be written.
Moonfall
Director: Rolan Emmerich
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry
Rating: 3/5
'Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore'
Rating: 3/5
Directed by: David Yates
Starring: Mads Mikkelson, Eddie Redmayne, Ezra Miller, Jude Law
The 15 players selected
Muzzamil Afridi, Rahman Gul, Rizwan Haider (Dezo Devils); Shahbaz Ahmed, Suneth Sampath (Glory Gladiators); Waqas Gohar, Jamshaid Butt, Shadab Ahamed (Ganga Fighters); Ali Abid, Ayaz Butt, Ghulam Farid, JD Mahesh Kumara (Hiranni Heros); Inam Faried, Mausif Khan, Ashok Kumar (Texas Titans
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Jumanji: The Next Level
Director: Jake Kasdan
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Nick Jonas
Two out of five stars
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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
Lampedusa: Gateway to Europe
Pietro Bartolo and Lidia Tilotta
Quercus
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
FIGHT CARD
1. Featherweight 66kg
Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)
2. Lightweight 70kg
Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)
3. Welterweight 77kg
Marcos Costa (BRA) v Abdelhakim Wahid (MAR)
4. Lightweight 70kg
Omar Ramadan (EGY) v Abdimitalipov Atabek (KGZ)
5. Featherweight 66kg
Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Kagimu Kigga (UGA)
6. Catchweight 85kg
Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) v Iuri Fraga (BRA)
7. Featherweight 66kg
Yousef Al Husani (UAE) v Mohamed Allam (EGY)
8. Catchweight 73kg
Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Abdipatta Abdizhali (KGZ)
9. Featherweight 66kg
Jaures Dea (CMR) v Andre Pinheiro (BRA)
10. Catchweight 90kg
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
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The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
INDIA SQUAD
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj and Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper)
Last-16
France 4
Griezmann (13' pen), Pavard (57'), Mbappe (64', 68')
Argentina 3
Di Maria (41'), Mercado (48'), Aguero (90 3')
Most F1 world titles
7 — Michael Schumacher (1994, ’95, 2000, ’01 ’02, ’03, ’04)
7 — Lewis Hamilton (2008, ’14,’15, ’17, ’18, ’19, ’20)
5 — Juan Manuel Fangio (1951, ’54, ’55, ’56, ’57)
4 — Alain Prost (1985, ’86, ’89, ’93)
4 — Sebastian Vettel (2010, ’11, ’12, ’13)
