Oscar voters: revealed

It's been a common complaint for years that the Oscars tends to favour white men, above all others.

Although there have been a few attempts to re-address the balance in recent years (step forward Jennifer Hudson, Kathryn Bigelow, Mo'nique and Denzel Washington), it's still a predictably staid system.

A new study by the Los Angeles Times has revealed that it's even more old-fashioned than we thought. They claimed to identify 5,112 of the secretive 5,765 members and found some depressing statistics.

Oscar voters are 94% white, 77% male and have a median age of 62. People under 50 make up just 14% of the academy.

These stats help to explain who was and wasn't included in this year's list of nominees. Noticeable snubs this year include Drive and Shame, two films which would certainly be seen as rather graphic to a group of people in their 60s. While there are two black actresses nominated this year (Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer for The Help), they're both safely playing maids.

The academy includes Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Martin Scorsese and other Hollywood luminaries, yet it also includes people who have left the movie business and moved onto other jobs. So, yes there's actually a nun that gets to vote on who gets an Oscar. Wonder why Michael Fassbender didn't get nominated for playing a sex addict. Hmmm.

You can find the results of this year's ceremony on Sunday. We promise no twists.

(Image: Rex Features, All Star)