Set Decorator Zsuzsa Mihalek Invited to Join the Oscars Academy

Hungary Today 2024.06.27.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is looking to add 487 new members, including this year’s Academy Award winners Zsuzsa Mihalek and Lily Gladstone, as well as Catherine O’Hara, Jessica Alba and Sandra Hüller, Variety.com reported.

Set decorator Zsuzsa Mihalek, who won an Oscar in March for her production design in Poor Things, was invited to join the Academy’s production design branch.

Fact

Zsuzsa Mihalek was already attracted to the film industry at a young age, when she decided to become a set decorator at the age of 17. In 1986, an advertisement in a newspaper opened the way to a career as a set decorator, and soon afterwards she achieved considerable success. Her work has been praised in Hungarian films such as Dollybirds, Argo and Made in Hungaria. In addition to Poor Things, the Oscar winner set decorator is also known for her work in the American action thriller Atomic Blonde (2017).

The newcomers bring the total number of members of the Academy to 10,910. In 2025, 9,934 of them will be eligible to vote on the Oscars. Of this year’s invitees, 44 percent are women and 41 percent are from underrepresented ethnic and racial communities.

The prospective members include 19 Oscar winners and 71 Oscar-nominated artists.

Eight filmmakers from several branches of the Academy have been invited, including Justine Triet, the French writer-director of the Anatomy of a Fall (2023), and Iker Catak, writer-director of The Teachers’ Lounge (2023). They must select one branch upon accepting membership.

The list of invitees also includes prominent industry professionals and veterans, including Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, chief negotiator for the main SAG-AFTRA contract, Tim League, founder of Alamo Drafthouse, Iris Knobloch, president of the Cannes Film Festival, Dan Friedkin, co-founder of 30West and Peter Safran, co-chairman of DC Studios, writes the Hollywood news site.

In a joint statement, Film Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Film Academy President Janet Yang welcomed the new members. “These remarkably talented artists and professionals from around the world have made a significant impact on our filmmaking community,” they said. The 97th Academy Awards will be held in Los Angeles on March 2, 2025.

Oscar-Winning Set Decorator Zsuzsa Mihalek Receives Human Dignity Award

She is awarded for "her outstanding work, her successful career and her latest, most prestigious international recognition."Continue reading

Via MTI, Variety; Featured image: Facebook/Filmvilág