The institution has undertaken an international expansion campaign, surpassing 10,800 voters and achieving awards that are less American-centric and more diverse across the planet.

Lily Gladstone gracefully accepted the moment when Michelle Yeoh announced Emma Stone as the Oscar winner for best actress, overriding her chance to become the first Native American to win the award. This was despite Hollywood’s campaign to make amends for its history of Westerns portraying Native Americans as brutal killers. Gladstone, a young actress of Blackfeet and Nez Perce descent, was the third Indigenous woman to be nominated for an acting Oscar. However, the Academy’s push for diversity, sparked by the #OscarSoWhite movement in 2015, ironically worked against Gladstone as the increased number of foreign voters were more drawn to the artistic work of an actress from Arizona and a filmmaker from Athens, Greece. Over the past nine years, the Academy has shifted from being 92% white and 75% male to inviting more ethnic minorities into its now 10,800 voters. As a result, one-fifth of the voters live outside the U.S., and about a hundred are Spanish. The new members seem to be more aware and possibly more active in casting their votes, as seen in the 96th edition of the Oscars where the most competitive awards were won by foreign choices. The Academy’s internationalization was evident in the success of non-English films like «Parasite,» which won the main award in 2020, and the surprising win of Anthony Hopkins over the expected posthumous Oscar for Chadwick Boseman in 2021. The influence of non-American voters was also seen in the nominations of European directors Jonathan Glazer and Justine Triet, and the record of two non-English films competing for the main trophy. Since the French film «Z» was nominated for best picture in 1970, only 14 foreign films have achieved the same feat, most of them in recent years. The average number of nominations for foreign titles has increased from six in the 2010s to 15 since 2020, reaching 25 in the latest edition. Even the typically American categories of visual effects and sound were won by a low-budget Japanese film, «Godzilla Minus One,» and «The Zone of Interest.» The award for best original screenplay went to French duo Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, and the best animated feature was won by Hayao Miyazaki’s «The Boy and the Heron,» beating the favorite, «Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.» For the first time, none of the five finalists for the best documentary feature was American. Almost half of the nominees and four out of ten directors nominated for best picture were non-Americans. Last year’s winner was a film featuring Asian characters, and this year’s winner was a classic film about a controversial immigrant character directed by a British-American. The Academy is clearly leaning towards globalization, with even Spain seeing candidates like Martin Scorsese campaigning. The Oscars’ message is clear: globalize or perish.