Vladimír Smutný and Daria Kashcheeva new members of Oscar-awarding academy

The American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which is responsible for awarding the annual top film awards known as the Oscars, revealed its list of new members on Tuesday. Among them are Czech cameraman Vladimír Smutný and Oscar nominated FAMU student Daria Kashcheeva.

Mr Smutný was praised by AMPAS for his work on Oscar winning Czech 1996 film Kolja and last year’s The Painted Bird, which was selected as the Czech entry for the Best International Feature Film for last year’s Academy Awards.

Ms Kashcheeva, who was born in Tajikistan, received many international awards last year for her animated short Dcera (Daughter), which featured puppets filmed in an innovative documentary-like style.

Other new members of AMPAS include actors such as Florence Pugh, or Ben Mendelsohn, as well as directors Ari Aster and Robert Eggers.