Oscars So White: Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Diversity and Social Issues in U.S. Documentary Films (2008–2017)

Abstract

Recent public backlash about diversity in the scripted U.S. entertainment industry has been reflected under the viral #OscarsSoWhite hashtag. Despite the heightened importance of contemporary independent documentary films as reflections of social justice challenges, the #OscarsSoWhite scrutiny has ignored nonfiction storytelling. Using content analysis, this study examined the first decade of Oscar-shortlisted documentary feature films (N = 150) distributed in the streaming digital era (2008–2017) to assess racial, ethnic, and gender diversity among credited directors (N = 190) and producers (N = 1,027); the extent to which Oscar-shortlisted nonfiction feature films reflect social issues; and contemporary audience distribution availability. Over 10 years, contemporary Academy Award–shortlisted documentaries were overwhelmingly created by White, male directors and producers, and they were more likely to spotlight social justice topics than to portray purely entertaining narratives. This study draws from feminist and critical race theories to analyze the societal value of inclusion in the nonfiction storytelling business, given increased audience access to digital-era documentaries, as well as the dominance of the social issue documentary genre as a means of counter-storytelling. Implications and future research directions for documentary industry professionals and scholars are discussed.