Steve McQueen calls Oscar diversity issue a 'watershed moment'

"12 Years a Slave" director Steve McQueen has joined the ongoing controversy surrounding the lack of diversity among nominees at the 2016 Oscars, saying he hopes it will be a "watershed moment" for the industry.

"Hopefully, when people look back at this in 20 years, it'll be like seeing that David Bowie clip in 1983," McQueen told theguardian.com, referring to an interview Bowie did earlier with MTV where he slammed the network for not showing enough music videos with black artistes.

The video has been re-circulated following Bowie's death.

"Forgive me; I'm hoping in 12 months or so we can look back and say this was a watershed moment, and thank god we put that right," McQueen added.

McQueen became the first, and currently only, black director to win a Best Picture Oscar when "12 Years a Slave" took home the award in 2014. Lupita Nyong'o also won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film.

In the two years since, however, all the nominees in the Oscars' acting categories have been white.