When Halle Berry won a Best Actress Oscar in 2002 for her performance in “Monster’s Ball,” it was widely considered to be a turning point for women of color in Hollywood. “Every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened,” she said in a powerful acceptance speech.
But 15 years later, Berry is still the only black woman to ever win the award.
“It’s troubling. To say the least, it’s troubling,” Berry said in a conversation with Elaine Welteroth, editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Of the 2015 Academy Awards, dubbed #OscarsSoWhite because no actors of color were nominated, Berry said, “It was one of my lowest professional moments… I sat there and I thought, wow, that moment really meant nothing. It meant nothing. I thought it meant something but I think it meant nothing.”
“I profoundly hurt by that and saddened by that, and it inspired me to try to get involved in other ways,” the actress went on. “Which is why I want to start directing. I want to start producing more, I want to start being a part of making more opportunities for people of color.”
Berry said she is also working on ways to help make the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences more diverse. “These kinds of groups have to start changing,” she said. “We have to be more conscious and more inclusive.”
“We need more people of color writing, directing, producing, not just starring. We have to start telling stories that include us,” she continued. “And when stories don’t include us, we have to start asking, ‘why can’t that be a person of color? Why can’t that white male character be a black woman?’ Why can’t it? We have to start pushing the envelope and asking these questions.”
Oscars 2017: What's Next for This Year's Winners? (Photos)
For every filmmaker, winning an Academy Award is the peak of their careers. But as soon as the after-parties are over, it's right back to work, as Hollywood's biggest winners often already have their next projects in the works. For winners like Damien Chazelle, Viola Davis and the stars of "Moonlight," this year is no different. Here's where you can catch them next.
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Best Actress winner Emma Stone will return to the big screen later this year in "Battle of the Sexes," a comedy biopic based on Billie Jean King's famous 1973 tennis match against Bobby Riggs. Linus Sandgren, who won Best Cinematography for "La La Land," is also on board.
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Viola Davis, of course, will head back to Shondaland to film Season 4 of "How to Get Away With Murder." She will also play the legendary abolitionist Harriet Tubman in a biopic about the Underground Railroad.
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Mahershala Ali had a mammoth 2016 with two very different but equally praised performances: his Oscar-winning supporting role in "Moonlight" and his performance as the devious Harlem kingpin Cottonmouth on Netflix's "Luke Cage." He will have a chance to dive back into the world of graphic novels next year in James Cameron's adaptation of the manga "Alita: Battle Angel."
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After winning Best Actor for playing Lee Chandler in "Manchester by the Sea," Casey Affleck is moving on to write, direct and star in "Light of My Life" about a father and daughter lost in the woods. He will also play famed explorer Meriwether Lewis in next year's HBO miniseries about the Lewis and Clark expedition.
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Though he was on the business end of that envelope flub, Damien Chazelle was still a big winner having received the Best Director Oscar for "La La Land." Next, he'll work again with Ryan Gosling on the biopic "First Man," which tells the story of Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong.
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Barry Jenkins was floored when "Moonlight" won Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay. Now he's going to continue to tell stories about African-American characters by directing episode 6 of Netflix's "Dear White People," due out later this year.
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Kenneth Lonergan moved audiences to both laughter and tears with his Oscar-winning screenplay for "Manchester by the Sea." Later this year, he will jump from original writing to adapted, as he turns E.M. Forester's novel "Howards End" into a Starz miniseries. The novel tackles the clash between social classes in early 20th century England, as three families with different levels of wealth cross paths.
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Ezra Edelman made Oscar history with his nearly eight-hour ESPN documentary "O.J.: Made in America." He's next slated to work with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill on "The Ballad of Richard Jewell," a biopic about an American security guard who saved thousands from being killed by a bomb at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, only to be falsely accused of terrorism by the press and public.
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Byron Howard and Rich Moore earned Disney yet another Oscar with "Zootopia," and now they are moving on to new projects for the Mouse House. Moore will work on the sequel to his video game comedy "Wreck-It Ralph," while Howard is working on a yet-to-be-named project with Lin-Manuel Miranda, who will likely be making another run at that EGOT.
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Asghar Farhadi made the biggest political statement of the night, boycotting the event in protest of Donald Trump's travel ban. Now, after winning his second Oscar with "The Salesman," he is planning a new, yet-to-be-titled film starring husband-and-wife, Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.
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For Damien Chazelle, Emma Stone and Viola Davis, it’s right back to the set after their Oscar victories
For every filmmaker, winning an Academy Award is the peak of their careers. But as soon as the after-parties are over, it's right back to work, as Hollywood's biggest winners often already have their next projects in the works. For winners like Damien Chazelle, Viola Davis and the stars of "Moonlight," this year is no different. Here's where you can catch them next.
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