Oscars 2017: Academy president says Trump's 'Muslim ban' has made 'artists into activists'

Though the Academy Awards has a long history of mixing the artistic and the political, it's become unavoidable this year.

Donald Trump's executive order for a 'Muslim ban' has affected multiple Oscars nominees this year, including both Asghar Farhadi, whose film The Salesman is nominated in the Foreign Language category, and Hala Kamil, the subject of Watani: My Homeland which is nominated in the Documentary (Short Subject) category

Trump had ordered a four-month ban on all refugees from entering the country as well as enacting an indefinite ban on all those who hail from Syria. For 90 days, visas would not have been issued to nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. The Department of Homeland Security has since suspended all enforcement of Trump's immigration ban following a nationwide locking of the executive order from federal judge James Robart in Washington.

Farhadi stated in reaction to the ban that he would not be attending the Academy Awards ceremony, even if he were offered an exemption; something which Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs reflected upon in her speech at the annual Oscar nominee luncheon (via The Guardian).

"Each and everyone of us knows that there are some empty chairs in this room which has made academy artists [into] activists," she stated. "There is a struggle globally today over artistic freedom that feels more urgent than at any time since the 1950s. Art has no borders. Art has no language, and doesn’t belong to a single faith. No. The power of art is that it transcends all these things and strong societies don’t censor art; they celebrate it."

"America should always be not a barrier but a beacon. We stand up in support of artists around the world we stand up to those who would try to limit our freedom of expression and we stand up for this fundamental principle: that all creative artists around the world are connected by that unbreakable bond, and more powerful and permanent than nationality and politics. And just as our work does not stop at borders, borders cannot be allowed to stop any of us."

She also touched upon the Academy's role in setting the dialogue on diversity in film; with a new move following last year's controversial ceremony - in which, once more, all acting nominees were white - which saw the introduction of 683 new academy members, 46% of which were women and 41% people of colour.

"When we expand our membership, when we reach out to be inclusive, we set a shining example. When our storytellers tackle issues of importance from religious intolerance to racism to sexism … we become agents of change," she added.

This year does see visible improvement within its categories; the acting nominations including Denzel Washington and Viola Davis for Fences, Ruth Negga for Loving, Dev Patel for Lion, Octavia Spencer for Hidden Figures, and Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali for Moonlight.