US President Barack Obama has for the first time addressed the lack of black nominees for this year’s Academy Awards, saying movies will be better if they represent everyone's stories.

Speaking with local news stations on Wednesday, Obama hailed diversity as a “strength” that makes for better art.

"It makes for better entertainment it makes everybody feel part of one American family, so I think as a whole the industry should do what every other industry should do which is to look for talent, provide opportunity to everybody,” the president said.

“And I think the Oscar debate is really just an expression of this broader issue. Are we making sure that everybody is getting a fair shot?"

The US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has drawn heavy criticism for nominating an all-white cast of nominees for the acting categories in this year's Oscars.

All 20 nominated actors and actresses for leading and supporting roles are white men and women.

In reaction to the controversial lineup, famous Hollywood celebrities announced that they will boycott this year’s ceremony which is slated to be held on February 28.

Spike Lee, George Clooney, Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett, David Oyelowo, Mark Ruffalo and Steve McQueen are among the stars who have either boycotted the Oscars or spoken against the lack of inclusion.

The strong reaction prompted academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, an Arican-American woman, to address the issue, saying in a statement that the organization will be “taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership.”

The Academy Board of Governors held an emergency session on January 21 to tamp down the uproar. Isaacs introduced immediate reforms designed to double the number of women and non-whites in the organization by 2020.

She also promised to diversify the overwhelmingly white 51-member Board of Governors, who are all white except for Isaacs and another member.