New Oscars voters: Two Filipino filmmakers invited to the Academy

LOS ANGELES – Two Filipino filmmakers, Arvin Belarmino and Andrew Stephen Lee, are among artists and executives recently invited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to join the organization, which presents the Oscar Awards.

In a statement, the Academy announced that it has invited 529 individuals “who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to motion pictures.”

There are 95 Oscar nominees, including 21 winners, and three Scientific and Technical Award recipients among the invitees, according to the Academy.

“We are delighted to invite this remarkable group of film artists and professionals from around the world to join the Academy,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor in a joint statement. “Through their commitment to filmmaking, this year’s exceptionally talented class has made significant contributions to our global movie industry.”

Each year, the Academy invites film artists and executives to join and vote for the coveted Oscars. In recent years, the august body has significantly invited more artists of color, including Filipinos, in an effort to diversify its membership and address the previous criticism that Oscar voters are mostly white, a sentiment expressed in the popular hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.

Academy Class of 2026

Belarmino and Lee, both short filmmakers, will join the Academy Class of 2026 which is composed of individuals representing actors, animation, artist representatives, casting directors, cinematographers, costume designers, directors, documentary, executives, film editors, makeup artists and hairstylists, marketing and public relations, music, producers, production and technology, production design, short films, sound, visual effects and writers.

Belarmino was cited by the Academy for “Agapito” and “Hinakdal,” while Lee was recognized for “Manila Is Full of Men Named Boy” and “At Little Wheelie Three Days Ago.”

Other Academy invitees this year include actors Jacob Elordi, Simu Liu, Josh O’Connor, Bill Skarsgard and Teyana Taylor; directors Benny and Josh Safdie, Kim Jee-woon and Anocha Suwichakompong; and singer-songwriters EJAE and Sara Bareilles.

Variety noted two recent Oscar winners who are not on the Academy’s list: “One notable name still absent from the Academy’s ranks is ‘Sinners’ writer-director Ryan Coogler, who revealed last year that he declined an invitation to join the organization nearly a decade ago.

His wife and producing partner, Zinzi Coogler, appears to be following a similar path, as she was not included on this year’s invite list after making history as the first Filipina nominated for best picture and only the third Black woman recognized in the category.”

Arvin Belarmino

Arvin Belarmino | CONTRIBUTED

On his inclusion in this year’s new batch of Academy voters, Belarmino said, “It is an honor to be one of the selected few Filipino creatives. Although I’m still processing what just happened.”

The filmmaker said he never imagined being asked by the Academy to join its ranks. “Actually, no. All I want is to create more films and tell more stories. That’s why it is a surprise honor to be invited as part of the Academy.”

On the significance of being invited mostly based on “Agapito” and “Hinakdal,” Belarmino replied, “They were created by a Filipino director, which showcase that Filipino creatives are getting attention and elevating their craft.”

“Agapito,” which Belarmino wrote and directed with Kyla Danelle Romero, premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. The short is set in one afternoon in a duckpin bowling alley where bowling pins are still set manually by pin setters played by a cast led by Nour Hooshmand. The story celebrates sibling bonds and chosen family.

Belarmino had the honor of having entries for two consecutive years in Cannes, including “Radikals,” which was the only Southeast Asian film in a field of 13 shorts at the 2024 Critics’ Week.

“Hinakdal” is described as a horror short about a zombie family whose isolated life is disturbed by a human being who attempts to steal their livestock. It won several awards in the 2023 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, including Audience and NETPAC Awards and Best Screenplay.

Filming a scene in Arvin Belarmino’s ‘Hinakdal’ | CONTRIBUTED

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“Kyel” is Belarmino’s first produced short film in 2014, when he was 27. He went on to direct more shorts, including “El Pablo,” “Nakaw,” “The Gathering,” “The Guardians” and “Tarang.”

The Masbate, Philippines-born director is finally realizing his goal to make his first full-length feature, “Ria.” “We are currently in post-production,” he disclosed.

The drama and sci-fi’s storyline is described as “following a hotel housekeeper as she leads her punk community in standing against violence and displacement while caring for her ailing foster mother.”

Belarmino said he is grateful for these breaks coming his way – “To my family for supporting me in this journey ever since. To my partner, Kyla Romero, who has been working with me since 2018. To my producer, Kristine De Leon, who worked so hard for my films. To my closest friends for supporting me through ups and downs. Lastly, to my mentors who taught me all of the things I should know in filmmaking.”

Alemberg Ang, an active producer of indie films, said of Belarmino’s Academy’s invite, “I’ve seen Arvin grow as a filmmaker and an artist all these years, and so I’m very happy to see the fruits of his labor. He will definitely be able to bring his unique voice to the Academy.

Andrew Stephen Lee

Andrew Stephen Lee | Photo from imdb.com

The filmmaker’s work has been screened at various film festivals, including Venice Film Festival (“Manila Is Full of Men Named Boy”) and Locarno Film Festival (“At Little Wheelie Three Days Ago”).

“Manila Is Full…”, which debuted in Venice’s Orizzonti, is described as taking place in Manila, July 7, 2009 – “As Michael Jackson’s televised funeral plays throughout the Philippines despite terrorist attacks in the south, an estranged son purchases a child who can drink and smoke to impress his father. However, when the patriarch and his friends embrace the new child as one of their own, the question must be asked: what determines who is more valuable of attention?”

The film’s cast includes Jon Norman Schneider, Rafael Roco Jr, Reynald Raissel Santos, Lou Veloso, Michael SJ Uy, Nel Estuya and Drestel Galang.

“At Little Wheelie Three Days Ago,” a 2022 Locarno Film Festival entry, dramatizes how a viral video rattles an unemployed father.

“I’m grateful to my family for supporting me and thankful to my collaborators for believing in me,” Lee said.

Born in the San Francisco Bay Area, Lee is the son of Andrew, from Quezon City, and Vicky (nee Ong), from Iloilo. “I still have family back home and miss them dearly.”

Lee, 37, said, “I made my first film at maybe 12 years old. I’m not sure how many films I’ve made. I still consider myself a newcomer.”

He has also edited films which were screened in Cannes Critics’ Week, Berlinale, Venice and Toronto Film Festivals.

In addition, Lee teaches directing in the Graduate Film Program at Columbia University, where he earned his MFA, and film production in the Undergraduate Film Program at Hunter College. He got his BA degree from Loyola Marymount University.

“I am working on my first feature, and I will make it within the next few years,” he shared his plans. “I’d like to make my feature films and grow old doing so.”

Ruben V. Nepales is an LA-based journalist whose honors include nine first prizes from the National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards and the Los Angeles Press Club’s Southern California Journalism Awards. He authored “Through a Writer’s Lens,” which won first prize in nonfiction at the 2020-2021 National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards. In 2004, he became the first Filipino voter of the Golden Globe Awards, He is a member of the Golden Globe Foundation, one of Hollywood’s biggest philanthropic organizations.

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