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Cubans Ana de Armas and Libia Batista were selected to form part of the Oscar Awards jury, along with 819 new members of the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
De Armas has pursued a meteoric career in the United States since her Hollywood debut. The actress, born in Havana in 1988 and who also carried out her professional career in Spain, has participated in films such as Blade Runner 2049, Knives Out, The Informer, Wasp Network and No Time to Die, her debut in the James Bond saga whose premiere was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
She also played the leading role in Blonde, a film in which she played Marilyn Monroe and whose release date was also postponed.
For her part, Libia Batista is a casting director widely recognized in Cuba and in other countries due to her professional training and extensive work in the seventh art. She has worked in dozens of films including Perfecto amor equivocado, Boleto al paraíso, Fátima o el Parque de la Fraternidad, Esther en alguna parte, Melaza, the biographical films about Che starring Benicio del Toro, and the American series House of Lies, among many more.
Last year, Cuban documentary filmmaker Gloria Rolando had also been selected to join the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as other filmmakers on the island have previously been.
The U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has been diversifying in recent years with the incorporation of actors, filmmakers and other film professionals from different countries after being accused of racism and segregation for lack of inclusion in the Oscar awards nominations.
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