Oscar-winning deaf actress Marlee Matlin becomes Academy Governor

Marlee Matlin shared this picture. (courtesy: themarleematlin)

Oscar-winning deaf actress Marlee Matlin, who starred in this year’s Best Picture winner KODA, was elected to the academy’s board of directors, the organization announced on Wednesday. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body that awards the annual Oscars, said Matlin is part of a new list of governors who will take office for the 2022-23 season. Governors are drawn from 17 branches of filmmaking, including actors like Matlin, as well as directors, producers, editors, and visual effects crews. They oversee the work of the Academy.

Other notable members of the Academy’s board of directors include Steven Spielberg and Selma Director Ava Duvernay.

Matlin takes over from Laura Dern (history of marriage), along with Whoopi Goldberg (Spirit, the color purple) and Rita Wilson (Sleepless in Seattle).

Matlin, who became the first deaf actress to win an Oscar for her role children of a lesser god, was honored this year for her role as the slightly eccentric but vulnerable mother in “KODA.

The feel-good indie film tells the story of high school teenager Ruby – a Child Of Deaf Adults (CODA) – as she balances her musical ambitions with her family’s dependence on her to communicate with the hearing world.

The film defeated stiff competition to secure Apple the coveted Best Picture award, overtaking streaming competitors like Netflix as well as traditional Hollywood studios, and achieving a landmark victory for the on-screen representation of the disabled.

(This story was not edited by UttarPradeshLive.Com staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)