‘Queen & Slim’ Director Claims Golden Globes Voters Didn’t Even Bother To Watch The Film

It’s understandable why people think these awards shows aren’t for us. Next month’s Golden Globes nominations were announced this week and social media noticed the lack of representation in the nominations. Among other obvious snubs (“When They See Us”), “Queen & Slim” Director Melina Matsoukas is speaking out against the Golden Globes, claiming voters refused to watch her film, Variety reports, even though others strongly feel that it was the film of the year.

Melina said she had already been warned by her team that the membership of Hollywood Foreign Press Association, comprised of about 90 international journalists who vote on the Golden Globes, had skipped multiple screenings of “Queen & Slim” that had been set for them.

“We held three screenings for the HFPA and almost no members attended,” Matsoukas said. “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.”

She added: “It’s extremely discouraging. It’s extremely infuriating. And it just represents an archaic system that is full of people who don’t value us.”

“Queen & Slim,” was written and produced by Lena Waithe and stars Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith. The film has grossed nearly $30 million at the domestic box office, outperforming analysts’ expectations.

A representative for the HPFA disputes the claim that members didn’t watch the film. The rep says all voters had been sent screeners and could have seen it at home. “The HFPA maintains that ‘Queen & Slim’ was in the conversation amongst the membership,” the organization told Variety in a statement.

Sources told Variety that Universal Pictures tried to persuade the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press into seeing “Queen & Slim.” But after three different screenings, only a few HFPA voters had attended — one source puts the number at four — despite “Queen & Slim’s” strong reviews. 

The Hollywood Foreign Press took a lot of heat this week for not nominating a single female director or screenwriter for the Golden Globes despite the fact that women shined this year in filmmaking.