The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced a new set of Inclusion Standards for movies to be eligible for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, starting with 2024 ceremony.
The Oscars have come up with a number of new requirements in order "to encourage equitable representation on and off screen in order to better reflect the diversity of the movie-going audience."
The movies will have to tick at least two of four representation boxes, which have a number of subcategories.
To be eligible to win the prestigious accolade the films must have employed a set number of actors, production members, marketing staff and interns who are women, people of colour, disabled or are among the LGBTQ+ community.
The storyline will also need to be diverse, and the motion picture needs to have offered traineeships or apprenticeships, be it on screen or behind the camera, to people from different backgrounds.
Although the new rules won’t come into effect until 2024, an Academy Inclusion Standards form will be required in order to be considered for the 2022 ceremony and the 2023 ceremony.
However, the 2021 ceremony, which is due to be held on April 25, will not be included.
In a statement, Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson said: "The aperture must widen to reflect our diverse global population in both the creation of motion pictures and in the audiences who connect with them
"The Academy is committed to playing a vital role in helping make this a reality. We believe these inclusion standards will be a catalyst for long-lasting, essential change in our industry."
The Academy Awards has long faced backlash for not representing people of colour.
In 2016, the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite was created to call out the lack of diversity in the nominations.
This year’s ceremony saw the South Korean film Parasite became the first non-English language film to win the award.