Meryl Streep responds to diversity questions: 'We're all Africans, really'

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."
"There is a core of humanity that travels right through every culture, and after all we're all from Africa originally," she said. "Berliners, we're all Africans really."

Streep went on to say that she is committed to including people "of all genders, races, ethnicities, religions" in the festival.
"This jury is evidence that at least women are included and in fact dominate this jury, and that's an unusual situation in bodies of people who make decisions," she continued. "So I think the Berlinale is ahead of the game."