for me ok and you're in the stream today a look at a new series that celebrates the history of black hollywood and in the age of oscars so white and bafta so white why is it so difficult to acknowledge the chief myths of black creatives tell us what you think on twitter at a stray. much the oscars of change the past i didn't have a choice yeah they had i you know and not back in 1929 there were no black acting nominees and now 2020 we got one their. own amazing groet. comedian steve martin and chris rock at the oscars on february the 10th in the new doc he's serious they've got to have us british photographer simon frederick examines the pivotal moments in black film history the pave the way for for today's african american and british actors but uses and directors to achieve mainstream success. there was only one kind of story that would get made dog number 2 slaves prostitute the house literate basketball players no doubt about it we have evolved and changed cinema over the oscar goes to lupita nyong'o should only. apply creative starforce opened the doors of hollywood we've got to tell our own stories due to give themselves a cinematic voice it is a long journey maybe even in my dreams this could not be true of the low but people i want to work and we're going to start period. to talk about this and some of the challenges that black created face in the industry we're joined by photographer simon frederic in london he's a producer and director of they've got to have us on set have a harris a professor of communications at stevenson university via skype we have april rain a diversity and inclusion of the cut and creator of the oscars so white like everybody's really good to have you i feel like we can talk about black cinema black and to tehran has so much to talk about some little time today simon you have 3 hours how did you decide what was going to go in a lot you're going to leave out. oh it was difficult. basically we had to come up with a form where we could tell the story of the achievement. you know basically spark this revival in in black cinema. but we had to you know tell the story from a beginning point and we felt that that beginning point was really the 27 things that are. sort of my scotland but the 27 teams of moonlight yeah without that film we would have been able to tell the story and that's a oscar's moment that no one is ever going to forget because everybody thought that la la land had won and then had a do you remember what i mean to her what. was it was one of the it is one of those moments where you couldn't make it up and it's really could make it up it's also interesting that it would happen for a moonlight but you would have a mix up for the movie for the film only because when you think about how predictably be that oscar show was going everything was la la la la la la la la land just to recreate recreate the moment we're waiting for the big big oscar nomination to be out there for the winner who's going to win the oscar for the best picture they are you know you see you've got this moment and so you are if you're going ziad and it wasn't the film they said well i already said that thank yous and there's another one i went my way it's me and then the time writer doesn't even believe it actually happened in that moment you capture in your documentary writes one. yeah because you know so for me it was a really interesting starting point was to start with barry jenkins i wanted to hear how he felt. when that moment was going on in front of you know it's all in good you know what we read in the papers about the moment but i wanted to get the guy himself that that happened to to tell us what that felt like and it was great hearing from him saying you know he couldn't believe in his wildest dreams that it was true that i mean he says in they've got to have us i couldn't believe it was happening i couldn't believe because this never happens mistakes like this never happen at the oscars and you know when i say when i look back at that scene and i think your documentary series is wonderful i really enjoyed watching it i actually bench watched it. when i look back at that scene i said to myself. it was fate dunaway that was also reading the the card and she didn't even look at the card if you look at her she doesn't really look at the card she just assumed that because lolo had won a number of oscars prior to that moment that it was lola so she just glances at it she says la la land like it's just a given and how well it was more weren't going to throw her under the above it is i'm not reading this. book so they were right moral of the card was incorrect. but he kind of knew it and we don't have you know the entire bible but what you remember from that moment where it wasn't one film it was the film that seem to be maybe this film is a commercial this film is about black love this film is about the harshness of some aspect of an african american family and families a poor what was your take on that actually boonie best picture sure it was in. all stunned you know right now. as a very vulnerable point in the docu series they've got to have it and then he says he just honestly wasn't at a place where he could believe that it was true that he had white you know i think that a lot of black deal with imposture syndrome and we're seeing that in that moment and so it was a very tender moment for him yeah but i want to give credit to jordan where it's who is the one of the producers from la la land who was the man who you know held up the card and said no you know they're actually moonlight one because i believe what happened is that it was written on the card but it was hard for best actress for emma stone so it was there. that you know i mean. what we call the knowledge so much more time the. should probably have 3 years later so let's move on then we start. a moment of black cinema history that is very very special and this is the 1st person to ever win an oscar he was an african-american woman of color from the film gone with the wind oscar speech is so beautiful let's have a listen. oh oh academy of motion picture arts and science fellow members of the motion picture industry and honored get one of the happiest moments of my life and i want to thank each one of you who had a part in selecting me for one of the awards for your kindness it is written if you will and i shall always hold it at the beacon for anything that i may be able to do in the future. i sincerely hope i shall always be a credit to my great and to the morton pitcher in my heart to tell you just you and me i say thank you. that is a beautiful moment and you know. you know rest in peace she remains a credit to the race yes she played a housekeeper a slave to win that award. that is what unfortunately a lot of apt to have to do in order to win sidney poitier won his award he was a peaceful black man among women who needed help right he fit into the ideology of how black people are supposed to appear on screen. how they bury hyper sexualized a bad mother in the film for which she won her oscar mo'nique horrible mother in precious for what she won her oscar viola davis and fences the. long suffering wife. you'd never win an oscar for being powerful it would have been very incredible and out of the norm for the academy to award cynthia every vote for the oscar for harriet because she was a powerful slave she used her agency you don't win for using your agency you win for fitting into the master narrative of how blacks are supposed to appear on screen just looking hair. i can i completely i completely agree i mean when you think. terms of washington should have won an oscar for my comeback hands down should have won an oscar from a command of what do they give an oscar for training day where he is you know delinquent violent. you know that's what he wins an oscar for and you know it's i agree with what was just. you know we always have to you know the rose that we seem to be lauded for always has to do something to do with suffering or servitude and that has to change let me share this tweet with you april i'm going to frame this one over to this is frederick is what she wants whatever right now it's like hollywood is a white dominated thing they want to keep blacks down with a purpose regardless of the hard work in the industry for your take. well that's true the academy of motion pictures arts and sciences the people who run the oscars committed in 2016 year 2 of oscars so right to doubling the number of people of color and doubling the number of women within its membership ranks by 2020 by this year and yet now that they have they met one of the goals and missed the other but the academy is still 84 percent white and 68 percent male what we also know is that the academy does not require its voting members to view the performances and the films before they vote i've always said as i tour around the country and around the world talking about issues of inclusion and representation in the entertainment industry that it should be a meritocracy you know you can ask your net arm why you get the best qualified folks out there and then you let the chips fall where they may but if you're not using them well if you're not doing the films before you vote and you can make choices but i thought i was ridiculous how ridiculous is that sound you know what is that the way it's been and then over 90 year history of the academy if you're not making choices based on actual marriage then this truly becomes a popularity contest amongst older white men which is the majority of the academy and it's not just the oscars it's the golden globes is the back to those you know back to so why it was happening again this year and so there are significant changes structural changes that need to be happening with that within all of these organizations and we also need to talk about whether in fact they are still relevant when we see the for example the telecast ratings for the oscars have been down significantly since oscar so where you started in 20015 we know that women especially women of color who win the oscars you know or even are nominated are not seeing the opportunities that one would expect when you've got being phrase oscar nominee or oscar winner after your name and we've got a myriad of examples with that you know holly berry maybe spencer famously said a couple years ago. that in fact she had to have jessica chess game rally on her behalf to ensure that she was getting the commensurate salary along with her counterparts for a film i take it sometimes it's you know it's a girl orders so you would think that she'd be able to make her and negotiations on her own and yet she still needed to go to a white woman to ensure that she was being paid fairly so all of these things together make one question whether the oscars and all of the other awards shows that again are not based on merit are truly relevant in this day and age let me put this to you simon comes from acquiring a salon i'm going to just see because the only answer talking to you as well why does black hollywood keep begging for awards from what hollywood why. i don't think i don't think i don't think that's fair i don't think the black kollywood are begging for water top i think what happens is. the oscars a kind of scene like the olympics of the of the film industry and i think that when people put out or make a great performance they expect that performance is is recognized and the performances recognize you know it's like to win a limpid gold at the olympics you have to be an exceptional astley to have won that gold medal to cross that line 1st and i think people who have. gone out and done that best back to the ball out of the park with their performances they suspect that you know that measure is a measure of which their performances is looked upon but unfortunately that's not the case. as a so eloquently put just now that's not the case when it comes to any of these award shows and a library i think if they don't change if they don't start to recognize talent for talent say they will become irrelevant people will move on i think audiences are showing that already. not that interested in the awards shows anymore because basically they're saying the same people being awarded for a lot of the cases a lot of mediocrity. it is very engineers are considered the pinnacle of the film industry because they say they are. right. that i think that might be a good that might be a good take away if we say we're the best show of. them maybe we are the go ahead you know when you look at hollywood hollywood according to media and technology scholar tim was founded because the people who know well who started hollywood they were considered rogue because there was a team of filmmakers in new york who had the film trust and they were blocking people international films the type of actors that could play roles the type of stories that could be told and these rogue individuals these entrepreneurial spirits went to hollywood cuba and mexico and decided to stay in l.a. and form hollywood so they could be more inclusive so that they could be included and how interesting that they now exclude when they set themselves started from a place where they wanted to be seen and wanted to have their stories told i want to just bring in a conversation something that struck me when i was watching the bafta is. bafta so white and joaquin phoenix was incredibly uncomfortable when he won for his role in the joke and this is what he used his time to say on stage have a look. i've always been very supportive of my career and i'm deeply appreciative. but i have to say that i also feel. conflicted because so many of my fellow actors that are deserving don't have that same privilege. i think that we send a very clear message to people of color that you're not welcome here. i think that's the message that we're sending to people that have contributed so much to our medium and our industry in ways that we benefit from it's more than just having sister multicultural i think that we have to really do the hard work to truly understand systemic racism. i think that it is the obligation. of the people that have created and perpetuate and benefit from a system of oppression to be the ones that dismantle it so that's on us. to make an excellent point if i can just say you know. he says there's a sense that we're not welcome there the fact is we are welcome in most organizations but we are needed in the organizations because our presence adds value to the bottom line but in terms of being a share in the bounty that results from our presence. organizational members are often not interested i thought now when you ask what's next right it was a great speech and mikey made a roomful of white folks very uncomfortable for it to still in 3 minutes but now we need to figure out what it's going to be actionable items going to be after this right and that it's incumbent upon those who look like the power structure who look like the gatekeepers to make those structural changes you know you cannot rest people for decades and then expect them to be able to change the system and so it is people like watching phoenix and others who have that agency you know who have that privilege to me to go to the major studio theaters and perhaps adapt and inclusion writer and say you know for all of my films going forward i'm going to ensure that a certain number of people of color women are marginalized communities are working on my film both in front of and behind the camera so it was a great speech and i'm looking for the act now and that action is always you know you know it's you know it's interesting i was saying earlier on. that when when we were filming they've got to have people like laurence fishburne goldberg was sitting in that chair or sitting on that box and they were looking around them because they were surprised we had an all black crew and they would never say you know in most instances they would say that they had never seen that before you know i think the back in the 19 sixty's when so many parties and belafonte were you know not just those but activists campaigning games you know for civil rights when you look to the left of them you look to the right of there were white to sue a famous at the time who was standing there just of active as they were 2020 we don't see that we don't we not progress we don't see white you know doing what joaquin phoenix did the other day. starting out with their blood brothers the 5th. some and let me just bring this thing is it's so very important it's something that you make as a point every time you speak to a black creative you put they talk about their struggle and how difficult was it a project on and i have a side to see how much that movie gross and there is none of them who lost money they all made money i think is really important clinton here says black people very talented yet silenced by the white people at the top that is his take let's talk about the money the top films are more diverse than ever before the study finds his studies the university of southern california they looked at the top grossing movies from 2007 up to 2019 and diversity in these movies these are the top 100 grossing movies so 10 years ago 11 of those top western movies were diverse 29000 just last year 31 were diverse these films are making money but is jesse williams says in your documentary what is more important for true diversity representation is something that when maybe not quite seeing yet as have a listen to his take there should be rules for black folks that are not always about blackness because why folks can just make an ending t.v. shows and movies about nothing about nothing i lost my dog he saw independent movie about me going to find do now reminds me of my mother. and it's not even good and not ok you should be able to make your art. you know when we think about making art i think we just need to make the art we need to control the finances we need to have the studios tim reed started a studio in the ninety's tyler perry has his studio now we cannot wait for her to even a scholar a it is a rave brought they've got to have us do you netflix you can't wait for them to be intentional about including us we have to be intentional about what do we need to see on screen what do we want to see on screen how do we create that balance has i'm so glad you said that we had people who are creating their own production companies because studios are always necessary and we don't always have the resources for an entire studio the wait is only a big and i'll say something your sons are both agencies are going i thought it was the 1st thing i did when i saw it was start my own production company and you know one of things. we talked about the other day when. they've got to have a slow and start netflix over. with over was the fact over a black woman set up. this ecosystem where i was a black man living in britain to compete picked up signed to a black owned company and given worldwide distribution somehow show that i've been told it would it would only work outside of the year old wide distribution for simon i just want to make make this point because a lot of people they could have a survey was released on netflix last week a lot of people who already watched it and that he was binge watched and it's having an impact on other black creatives i want you to have a listen to take essentially who's a producer and this is how she felt about your 3 hour documentary have a look. each one of these giants that i got to see tell me something and i've learned from in the series. said in their own way that if you're creating something don't stop creating it because somebody says nobody wants to hear that or we're not ready for that story or there's nobody asking for that right now or nobody's going to get it because undoubtedly there is going to be somebody out there who needs to hear that who needs to learn from you who you are going to change their life through your stories who don't stop writing don't start creating stop listening is what they're saying and only listen to what's in here and what's in here and look i'm going to you because you're going to change someone's life i agree with her you know what i'd love to see 2 more women centered films of dr robin means coleman has a book called horror nor that we need more than ever we need more animation we've had to run the show we've been there done that we said that where are we in tells of black cinema i should be evil say blacks in a black creatives in hollywood simon just in a sentence to rap where are we right now. i think we're in a really good place we're no longer in a relay starts i don't think we were ever in a renaissance we were in a time where it was it was full stall and i think we've grown up with woken up to the. you know. the director of. april thanks for joining us a scene next time on the street. business later is what you'll find the brass paul. business later just to find a bright spot. in the stratosphere feels a wise thing. about china's growing influence on university campuses. when i want to east investigates how beijing is getting power offered. on al-jazeera. talk to al-jazeera we talk about 2 of the biggest problems facing and they all the endemic corruption and the carrot we listen so if you repeat plays china as an enemy of the is a not really that yours we meet with global news makers can tweak about the stories that matter to the edges their own. though i maryam namazie and london with a quick look at the headlines and we begin with our breaking news story this hour a rocket attack hitting an iraqi province where u.s. troops are stationed a previous attack on the k. one base in december killed a u.s. contractor which started a chain of events causing a spike in regional tensions there are no immediate reports of injuries or deaths so far but rob matheson has been following the story for us from baghdad tell us war if we've about the circumstances of this latest rocket attack on the k. one base well as you can imagine the bridge still getting some details but we do know that at the moment or what seems to be the most common these.