Carey Mulligan says Oscar voters should have to prove they have seen ‘every single’ eligible film

Actor said voting system is ‘not working’ after ‘Little Women’ and ‘Hustlers’ snubbed

Carey Mulligan has said the voting system for the Oscars is “not working” and that voters should have to “prove” they have seen “every single” eligible film.

The actor made the comments while discussing the fact that films such as Little Women, Hustlers and The Farewell were snubbed in the 2020 Academy Awards nominations.

Not a single woman was nominated in the best director category for this year’s Oscars.

“I don’t think you can watch those films and not think they deserve recognition,” Mulligan said at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

“I think they need to be watched. I wonder if the system works in terms of getting sent 100 screeners. Maybe you shouldn’t be allowed to vote unless you can prove you’ve seen every single one. There should be a test. The films that did get left out are indisputably brilliant.”

She added: “I’m talking about Hustlers, Little Women and The Farewell. I feel like the fact that they are getting made is progress. But it’s all baby steps…

“People simply aren’t seeing these films because I think if they did they would be moved to vote for them.

“The system doesn’t work. For a film like Hustlers and a performance like Jennifer Lopez’s, [if it] can’t get recognised then something’s not working.

“So you haven’t seen it, you can’t have seen it. And you can’t see that performance and disregard it, and not think it’s worthy of recognition.

“And Greta Gerwig, again producing an incredible film [Little Women] and not getting recognition as a director, there’s just something that needs fixing but I’m not the smart person to fix it.”

Mulligan can next be seen in Promising Young Woman, a comedic revenge thriller written and directed by Killing Eve’s Emerald Fennell.