{"id":255710,"date":"2016-10-07T15:42:07","date_gmt":"2016-10-07T15:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=255710"},"modified":"2016-10-07T15:42:07","modified_gmt":"2016-10-07T15:42:07","slug":"actor-david-oyelowo-calls-for-uk-film-diversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/actor-david-oyelowo-calls-for-uk-film-diversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Actor David Oyelowo calls for UK film diversity"},"content":{"rendered":"
British actor David Oyelowo has said he moved to the US because of the lack of opportunity for black actors in the UK.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the BFI London Film Festival’s Black Star Symposium, the Selma star issued a plea for a more diverse industry.<\/p>\n
His comments came as British Film Institute research revealed that 59% of UK films in the last decade had no black actors in any role.<\/p>\n
It also found that 13% of UK films had a black actor in a leading role.<\/p>\n
Oyelowo, whose latest film A United Kingdom opened the BFI London Film Festival this week, said the only way to achieve diversity in the UK film industry was if the “demographics of the decision makers changes”.<\/p>\n
He said: “The odd token thrown, the odd bone given is not going to do it.<\/p>\n
“Don’t pat yourself on the back because you made that black drama. Bully for you. That’s not diversity. It’s got to be baked into the foundation of where the ideas flow from.”<\/p>\n
‘Felt abandoned’<\/strong><\/p>\n Oyelowo, who now lives in Los Angeles, spoke of acting friends who had visited him from the UK.<\/p>\n “We have sat there together, we have prayed together, we have scratched our heads together, we have felt displaced together, we have felt abandoned together,” he said. “They are still here. I felt I had to leave.<\/p>\n “Please stop this talent drain. You have to change the demographics of the people who are making these decisions.<\/p>\n “You are the curators of culture. You are those who are going to shape the minds of those coming up.<\/p>\n “If I’d seen a film like A United Kingdom when I was leaving drama school, I don’t think I would be living in America now.”<\/p>\n