On Tuesday, Sean Penn criticized the Oscars organizers, calling them cowards who, in effect, limit the kinds of films that can be funded and made.
The 64-year-old actor shared his thoughts at the Marrakech Film Festival, where he received a career achievement award. He said he only gets excited about the Academy Awards on rare occasions when films he values are nominated.
“The producers of the academy have exercised really extraordinary cowardice when it comes to being part of the world of expression and, in fact, have largely been part of limiting the imagination and limiting different cultural expressions,” Penn said at the festival, where he received a career achievement award this week.
“I don’t get very excited about what we’ll call the Academy Awards,” he said, noting exceptions when certain films grace the ceremony, including Sean Baker’s ” The Florida Project,” Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here” and Jacques Audiard’s ” Emilia Perez. ”
Penn’s comments align with long-standing criticisms of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for lacking diversity among its members and in the films it honors with awards.
In recent years, the Academy has made efforts to reform and rebrand itself but has faced criticism for not doing enough. The Academy did not respond immediately to requests for comment on Tuesday.
Penn also praised Iranian-Danish director Ali Abassi and his latest film The Apprentice, which is about President Donald Trump. The film struggled to find an American distributor before the U.S. election in November.
“It’s kind of jaw-dropping how afraid this ‘business of mavericks’ is when they get a great film like that with great, great acting,” Penn said. “They, too, can be as afraid as a piddly little Republican congressman.”
As part of a career tribute, the Marrakech Film Festival is screening four of Penn’s films this week in Morocco’s tourism capital. Local media in Morocco reported that some audience members walked out during a scene from Milk, where two men are shown in bed. Homosexuality is illegal in Morocco, although it is rarely prosecuted.
The actor, whose 2023 film Superpower focuses on the war in Ukraine, also expressed support for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and referred to himself as a “patriot in crisis” when asked about the American political scene.
