"We held three screenings for the HFPA and almost no members attended," Matsoukas told Variety. "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 went on to say, "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."
A representative for the HFPA told Variety that "‘Queen & Slim' was in the conversation amongst the membership." They added that they gave members a choice to watch the film at home instead of FYC screenings.
Variety commented on the story, saying, "According to those familiar with the studio's process, the feeling was that there was no reason to ask the cast to talk about the movie since they didn't think voters had seen it."
"Queen & Slim" has been a critical hit and has done well at the box office, earning approximately $30 million.
