Actors Suriya and Kajol are among the invitees to join The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The organisation has extended an invitation to 397 artists and others to join the organisation in 2022. "Membership selection is based on professional qualifications with an ongoing commitment to representation, inclusion and equity. This year's class of invitees includes 71 Oscar nominees, including 15 winners. The Academy is the organisation which presents The Academy Awards, popularly known as Oscars.
Other Indians who made it to the list include filmmakers Reema Kagti, Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas. Indian documentary Writing With Fire, made by Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas, was recently nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category at the 94th edition of the Academy Awards. The documentary chronicled the rise of Khabar Lahariya, India's only newspaper run by Dalit women.
Indian-born American film producer Aditya Sood, who produced films like The Martian and Deadpool, also made it to the list, besides Sohini Sengupta, a PR and marketing professional, according to reports.
In a release, The Academy said, “A selection of this year's invitees includes Michael Greyeyes (Wild Indian) to the Actors branch, Elodie Demey (Summer of 85) to Casting Directors, Martin Ruhe (The Tender Bar) to Cinematographers, Paul Tazewell (West Side Story) to Costume Designers, Andrew Ahn (Fire Island) to Directors, and Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh (Writing With Fire) to Documentary.”
“Also, Shannon Baker Davis (The Photograph) has been invited to Film Editors, Stacey Morris (Coming 2 America) to Makeup Artists and Hairstylists, Leo Heiblum and Jacobo Lieberman (Frida) to Music, Shih-Ching Tsou (The Florida Project) to Producers, set decorator Ellen Brill (Being the Ricardos) to Production Design, Charlotte De La Gournerie (Flee) to Short Films and Feature Animation, production sound mixer Denise Yarde (Belfast) to Sound, Hayley Hubbard (The Old Guard) to Visual Effects, and Jeremy O Harris (Zola) to Writers,” the release added. The full list of all 397 invitees to The Academy can be found here.
Actor Suriya announced in a tweet that he has accepted the invitation to join The Academy. He accepted the offer and thanked them for the honour. Congratulating Suriya, actor Kamal who shared the screen with the former in the film Vikram, tweeted, “Glad my brother @Suriya_offl treads the ground of stars. In spite of gravity, which makes wings weak. We created angels and stars. Hence be proud brother to join the crowd of excellence."
Thank you @TheAcademy for the invitation, which I humbly accept. My heartfelt thanks to all those who wished me, will always strive to make you all proud!! https://t.co/eyEK9hQxhF
— Suriya Sivakumar (@Suriya_offl) June 29, 2022
Thank you anna https://t.co/QmTKrHQfTo
— Suriya Sivakumar (@Suriya_offl) June 29, 2022