Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor slams 'Hollywood' for its 'double standard' amid 'Origin' award snub

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor has called out Hollywood for its double standards amid the ‘Origin’ award snub.

The star of 'King Richard' is actively promoting the film set to release on Friday, January 19. When questioned about the movie's apparent lack of recognition in the current award season, Ellis-Taylor remarked, "This film does something very courageous."

"It's bold creatively, it's bold in its message, and it confronts things in an innovative way. I just believe that in Hollywood, we tend to reward white men for that kind of work," teased Aunjanue.

'Origin' had a great world premiere at the Venice Film Festival 

While 'Origin' received a nomination at the Gotham Awards, it fell short of making an impact on other award stages, including the Golden Globes, BAFTA Awards, and more.

Interestingly, it had a successful world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, per People.

Expressing her thoughts, Ellis-Taylor emphasized that she is not the only Black female filmmaker who has been denied the recognition she deserves.

She highlighted the outstanding work of other filmmakers in the season, including AV Rockwell in 'A Thousand and One,' Savanah Leaf with 'Earth Mama,' and Raven Jackson in 'All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt,' praising their gorgeous, subtle, nuanced, and innovative filmmaking.

DuVernay’s movie talks about caste system and discrimination around the world

The Oscar nominee portrays Wilkerson in 'Origin,' a character who is a journalist and the best-selling author of the 2010 book 'The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration.'’

In adapting her 2020 book 'Caste’ for the screen,' DuVernay’s movie revolves around Wilkerson's writing of that non-fiction book. It links racism in the United States to the caste systems of Dalits in India and Jews in Nazi Germany.

“It is this time, this moment, that we have to look at what we are doing to each other,” says Ellis-Taylor of the film’s relevance in today’s world.

“What's happening is not central, it's not just the American experience. It's an experience that is vast, it's wide, it's cross-cultural, it crosses time," she added.

"We are connected to the Indian experience, we are connected to the Jewish experience, and the knowledge of that gives us more strength to fight those forces that would keep those divisions in place,” Ellis-Taylor explained.