On the low level of visible ethnic diversity among NYFCC membership
1 out of 17 from a Twitter thread - As with American film during the first 100 years, not a lot of diversity at New York Film Critics Circle. This [possibly] affects the careers of minority filmmakers, foreign filmmakers. Film is a global art form. NYC is very diverse. Perhaps over next 100 years things will improve.
2 - not a lot of visible ethnic diversity. the absence of a significant number of Black critics is shocking for the 2020s. As Black and other minority audiences are the majority audience for cinema worldwide.
3 - the other problem with critics is they mostly write about Hollywood movies. Even though, after 2020, indie movies are available online, & most movies are now indie movies.
4 - personally speaking, as a NYC based minority filmmaker, as far as I know no one from NYFCC wrote anything positive about my last two movies @WerewolfComedy + @slowromcomedy - both watched by 100s of people (thousands :)) & w/ positive reviews from critics in other cities.
5 - so, two major problems w/ NYFCC - lack of ethnic diversity in a group that writes about a global art form and can have an effect on box office, careers, plus not enough coverage of non-Hollywood/real indie movies (100s made in NYC alone each year).
6 - obviously this is a very complex subject. but a good one to discuss at length and understand. cinema shapes how people are viewed by others. cinema has affected many serious political, life or death type moments for many people over the last 100+ years worldwide.
7 - about 5 people out of the NYFCC membership of around 40+ people appear to be visible minorities. I am sure every critic in the org is highly skilled. but, due to history of exclusion in the film world, and due to the influence NY critics can have over movies,...
8...it may be a good idea to have more minority film critics in the NYFCC. yes, it's not a simple process to change things. but, see if you can do better over the next 100 years :) - https://nyfcc.com/membership/
9 - looks like 43 members, and perhaps 6 who are visible minorities (non-"white" looking people). the absence of a large number of Black critics, for an industry that has historically suppressed Black talent, does not look good. same for Asian, Latin Am, and all other minority...
10...groups. It's film (a global art form) coverage in NYC (a very diverse city), read by people worldwide. increase the diversity, may be better for the art form and audiences - & def better for minority film criticism careers. here's my data/images from NYFCC site.
11 - see images of members from NYFCC site above
12 - also, if the NYFCC were to talk publicly about the issue of lack of diversity in film criticism - historically, in US-wide, the public may get a better understanding as to what's going on.
13 - a related topic of discussion may be 'can critics from whatever background seek out, champion minority and indie films?' - technically the answer of course is yes. but is it happening among the members of the NYFCC? def is being done by some. more info is needed.
14 - the reason I am interested in diversity in NYFCC is because small indie films such as No Bears, Goodbye to Language can do well with critical support. Would be better if NY critics were to discover and support more minority indie films from US, including NYC.
15 - would a more diverse critics membership = more attention to films by minority filmmakers and indie filmmakers, to offset the enormous amount of attention historically paid to non-diverse films from Hollywood? perhaps. we'll have to see when such diversity happens at NYFCC.
16 - film has been used historically to humanize some people - make them more relatable, and to de-humanize some people - make them less relatable. so, which films get positive attention has a real world effect on the lives of millions of people worldwide.
17 - thus, diversity in films is important. diversity in films, which films get positive attention, may be related to diversity among film critics and reviewers. thus this discussion.