ACADEMY DIALOGUES: IT STARTS WITH US

A conversation with Academy Governor Whoopi Goldberg and civil rights lawyer Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, on how narrative storytelling is at the heart of recovery in addressing racial and ethnic inequity.

A conversation with Oscar®-nominated director Lee Daniels (“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”) and Oscar-winning writer Tarell Alvin McCraney (“Moonlight”) about their personal and professional journeys navigating the film industry as Black gay men. 

Bird Runningwater, director of the Indigenous Program at the Sundance Institute, will moderate a conversation with writers Misan Sagay (“Belle”) and Ligiah Villalobos (“Under the Same Moon”) and filmmakers Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (“The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open”) and Lulu Wang (“The Farewell”) on the role that gatekeeping at the studios and production companies has played in preventing authentic stories from being told. 

Lorenza Muñoz, EVP, Member Relations and Awards, moderates a discussion with Academy members, including Marvel Studios EVP of Production Victoria Alonso, casting director and producer Carmen Cuba (“The Martian”), director Nadia Hallgren (“Becoming”), and American Entertainment Marketing President Ivette Rodriguez, explores the complexity of being Latin, the legacies of colonialism, identity, and solutions for inclusion.

Actor Delroy Lindo (“Da 5 Bloods”), filmmaker Gina Prince-Bythewood (“The Old Guard”), and Oscar-winning filmmaker T.J. Martin (“LA92”), will discuss how Black artists break through barriers and truly realize the power and meaning behind the saying, “We are the culture. Nothing moves without us.” Moderated by Shawn Finnie, Associate Director of Member Relations and Outreach. 

This conversation features Academy governor and producer DeVon Franklin (“Breakthrough”), The Black List founder Franklin Leonard, producer Debra Martin Chase (“Harriet”), and M88 president and managing partner Phillip Sun, as they discuss their professional journeys and finding success outside of the traditional Hollywood system. 

Academy governor and Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams moderates a panel with fellow documentary directors Lisa Cortés (“All In: The Fight for Democracy”), Jim LeBrecht (co-directed and co-produced “Crip Camp” with Nicole Newnham), Bao Nguyen (“Be Water”), and Dawn Porter (“John Lewis: Good Trouble”), to discuss systemic changes needed to give marginalized communities a shot at telling stories through their own lens. 

Elvis Mitchell, film critic and host of the KCRW radio show “The Treatment,” moderates a panel with Academy governor and director/writer Rodrigo García (“Mother and Child”), and casting directors Julia Kim (“The Last Black Man in San Francisco”) and Victoria Thomas (“Once upon a Time…in Hollywood”). 

Anita Hill (subject of “Anita: Speaking Truth to Power”), chair of the Hollywood Commission and professor at Brandeis University, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, moderates this conversation with Oscar-winning actor Geena Davis (“A League of Their Own”), award-winning filmmaker Alma Har’el (“Honey Boy”), Academy governor and composer Laura Karpman (“Lovecraft Country”), and EVP Creative for Sony Pictures Animation and Oscar-winning producer Karen Rupert Toliver (“Hair Love”) about their personal journey to be