
The D-word became a topic of debate on Thursday at the Berlin International Film Festival, where jury president Meryl Streep commented on the seven-member jury panel being all white.
AP reports:
Streep, who heads a festival film jury for the first time, said she was committed to equality and inclusion âof all genders, races, ethnicities, religions.â
Addressing the makeup of the Berlin jury (which includes Clive Owen and Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher, among others), Streep told reporters at the festival: âThis jury is evidence that at least women are included and in fact dominate this jury, and thatâs an unusual situation in bodies of people who make decisions. So I think the Berlinale is ahead of the game.â
As usual, Meryl won everything with this: âThere is a core of humanity that travels right through every culture, and after all weâre all from Africa originally. Berliners, weâre all Africans really.â
Could be a clever jab at the entire debateâVariety described Streepâs tone as humorous and wrote:
....in reference to John F. Kennedyâs famous âIch bin ein Berlinerâ quote, Streep proclaimed: âWe are all Africans, we are all Berliners.â
She also said, âI have no idea how to run a jury.â Of all the Oscars/Hollywood diversity takes so far, Streepâs may be the most straightforward and existentially sound, as well as the strangestâthe perfect combo.
The questioning continued:
Asked by an Egyptian reporter whether she understood films from the Arab world and North Africa, Streep said that while she didnât know much about the region, âIâve played a lot of different people from a lot of different cultures.â
Thus completing what is so far the most perfectly odd response in this ongoing trending topic.
CORRECTION: The âweâre all Africans, reallyâ quote from Streep was not in response to a question about the festivalâs all-white jury panel. From a corrected issued by Mashable:
Meryl Streepâs âWeâre all Africans, reallyâ comment was a direct response to a question about Arab and African films, not a response to questions about the Berlinale Film Festivalâs all white jury, as the article and headline originally suggested. A recording of the panel shows that Streepâs original comments were misrepresented in subsequent reports.
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