Film critic, Dr. Shaibu Husseini joins international voters for Golden Globe awards

LAGOS, Nigeria – Culture/film journalist,  Mr. Shaibu Husseini PhD has been appointed into the elite class of international voters for the 81^st Golden Globe Awards.

The journalist who made the announcement on the social media said it is great to be a significant part of one of the most recognized awards around the world.

“Happy to share the good news of my appointment into the elite group- class of international voters for the upcoming 81st Golden Globe awards. Great to be a significant part of one of the most recognized awards around the world”, the film critic said on the social media.

Shaibu Hussein, a film critic for decades is one of the 215 international voters added to existing 95 members.

“Combined with the current 95 members, there are now a total of 310 voters, surpassing a pledge to increase the size and diversity of the voting body”, the organisers of the Golden Globe Awards said online. The new breakdown is 25% Latinx, 14% Asian, 10% Black, 9% Middle Eastern and 42% White. At least 17% of the voting body self-identifies as LGBTQIA+.

“We have exceeded our goal of reaching 300 voters for the upcoming 81^st Annual Golden Globe Awards, thanks to an extensive global recruitment effort,” said Helen Hoehne, President of the HFPA.

“We are excited at the unprecedented achievement in building a truly global voting body where 58% self-identify as ethnically diverse”, he added.

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Previously, the voting body of the 80^th Annual Golden Globe Awards consisted of 200 voters with 52% self-identifying as ethnically diverse. However, for the upcoming 81^st award, an increase in diversity is also accompanied by an increase in the number of new countries represented.

The voting body now represents a total of 76 countries, including international voters from newly added countries such as Cameroon, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Serbia, Tanzania and Nigeria.

“The efforts put forth to identify, engage, and actively recruit diverse voters is strong evidence of the commitment by the Golden Globes to follow through on its promises to expand and reshape itself,” said Neil Phillips, HFPA Chief Diversity Officer.

“It shows that with the right leadership, effective community partnerships and an unwavering focus, we can achieve remarkable and transformational diversity growth”, he said.

The criteria for international voters include residing outside of the U.S. and possessing verified entertainment journalistic clippings for international media outlets, including print, broadcast, radio, photography and online.

These applications were reviewed and qualified by the Credentials Committee, which is composed of a majority of outside independent journalism and entertainment industry professionals.