What is the film industry without Cheryl Boone Isaacs? A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1987, and its current president, she made her mark by not only being the third woman to hold the position of president, she is also the first African American to do so.
Boone Isaacs, is currently in Dubai for the 13th Dubai International Film Festival, hoping to spread awareness of the Middle East to the Academy.
“I am very happy to be here, I am very happy to come to Dubai,” she said during an In Conversation session with Diff representative Ammar Shams.
To say she has “been in the film business for a long time” is an understatement for the amount of work Boone Isaacs has done. Her work ranges from marketing independent and studio films and working in publicity in Columbia Pictures all the way back in 1977. Having been elected on the board in 1989, only two years after officially becoming a member, is a big trophy to have in her cabinet.
Apart from devoting most of her time to the Academy, she has been a catalyst for the enforcing of diversity there. Boone Isaacs has also been instrumental in enforcing a higher gender and ethnicity mix within the members, initiating a movement to hire 400 new members from a multitude of nationalities.
The Hall of Fame Award winner at the NAACP Image Awards also spoke of wanting to have a member from the Middle East in the Academy in order to increase diversity and awareness of Arab film culture.
“I am the kind of person that when I am involved, I go 100 per cent,” she said.
An iconic phrase she has coined over her career is: “We preserve the past, honour the present and shape the future.”
— The Young Journalist Award (YJA) at Diff is a training programme for high school and university students who are aspiring writers and reporters. Eight students are competing at the festival this year. One winner will secure a monthlong internship with Gulf News.
