Boots Riley on Sorry to Bother You Oscars Snub: “We Didn’t Actually Run a Campaign”

Today, the nominations for the 91st Academy Awards have been announced. Boots Riley’s directorial debut Sorry to Bother You was noticeably missing from the list with no nods at all. In response to criticism of the Academy, Riley explained his own reasoning behind the film’s lack of nominations. “There are tons of ppl making statements this morning about what Sorry to Bother You not getting nominated says about the Academy and the film industry that I think are misconceptions that may affect what kinds of movies filmmakers think are possible to get made,” he said on Twitter.

Riley continued to explain the nature of the industry’s voting process. “The largest factor as to why we didn’t get nominated is that we didn’t actually run a campaign that aimed to get a nomination for Screenplay or Song. We didn’t buy For Your Consideration ads in the trade magazines and we didn’t service the whole academy with screeners.” He pointed to the “buzz” the campaign brings as a necessary step in becoming a contender. “Not doing that made it a self-fulfilling prophecy that we wouldn’t get nominated. So I had no actual belief that we would get nominated.” See Riley’s tweets below.

Last year, Riley shared a lengthy critique of Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, pointing to the film’s “untrue elements that make a cop a hero against racism” in relation to the larger Black Lives Matter discussion. Lee addressed the criticism in an interview. BlacKkKlansman has been nominated for Best Picture, marking Lee’s first in that category.

The 2019 Oscars nominations include Lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Rami Malek, and more. Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, and Isle of Dogs were among the films nominated for Best Original Score. Along with BlacKkKlansman, Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody, A Star Is Born, and more are in the running for this year’s Best Picture award.

Follow all of Pitchfork’s coverage of this year’s Oscars.