Director Of ‘Queen & Slim’ Says Voters Of Golden Globes Refused To Watch Film

The brand new hit drama film ‘Queen & Slim’ was snubbed and shut out of the 2019 Golden Globe nominations.

The nominations for the 2019 Golden Globe awards were recently announced, consisting of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s selections for the best in film and television of this year.

‘Queen & Slim,’ starring Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya, didn’t receive a single nomination. In an interview with Variety, Director of the film, Melina Matsoukas, explained why she believes this happened, and she held back no punches.

“It’s extremely discouraging,” Matsouka said. “It’s extremely infuriating. And it just represents an archaic system that is full of people who don’t value us.” ’Queen & Slim,’  backed by Universal Pictures, set up multiple press screenings for the HFPA to attend. But most never show up.

“We held three screenings for the HFPA, and almost no members attended. For me, it’s reflective of their voting body. It’s not reflective of the society in which we live in or the industry as it stands today. They don’t value the stories that represent all of us, and those stories are so often disregarded and discredited, as are their filmmakers.”

DVD screeners were sent to the voting members of the HFPA to view at their own convenience, but Universal Pictures reportedly doesn’t believe that the members watched the film at all.

Universal Pictures decided it was best to cancel a previously scheduled press conference with the cast.

When Matsouka took part in an HFPA fundraiser before finishing ’Queen & Slim’s’ final cut, she said,  “I was warned by three different people that I may be harassed or spoken to in an inappropriate way, which I was. And they used a very archaic term in the pitch, and I found it quite offensive and disrespectful to me as a woman of color.”

It must also be noted that the HFTA hasn’t nominated any female directors this year. Matsoukas explained that changes can be made by changing the voting body.

“I think there’s an extremely long way to go. I’m always going to be hopeful because that’s who I am, but I don’t have a lot of faith in any institution in this country because they have always discredited and disregarded work by women and people of color. The fact that five women have ever been nominated for directing in the lifetime of the Academy is infuriating. It’s obviously very imbalanced. Until the body of the people voting on the projects reflects our society and the people making these projects, there will be no change.”

When Variety asked for comment, the HFPA responded: “The HFPA maintains that ‘Queen & Slim’ was in the conversation amongst the membership.”