The ongoing controversy about diversity in the film industry reached the Berlin International Film Festival on Thursday, after remarks made by the president of the festival's jury panel: Oscar-winner Meryl Streep.
The jury for the acclaimed festival is made up of entirely white panelists, and when asked about that by reporters on Thursday, Streep brushed off the question, saying, "we're all Africans really," reports the Associated Press.
According to the AP, when an Egyptian reporter asked whether she could understand films from North Africa and the Middle East, Streep said that while she didn't know much about that part of the world, "I've played a lot of different people from a lot of different cultures."
Streep's comments come during the lead-up to the 2016 Academy Awards, which has sparked a conversation and outcry about diversity in film since, for the second year in a row, all 20 of the acting nominees announced in January were white.