The British Academy published an extensive new rules governing eligibility for the 2021 BAFTA awards
The British Academy on Thursday published its extensive new rules governing eligibility for the 2021 BAFTA awards.
Most of the 120 wide-ranging changes — which overhaul diversity requirements, alter the nomination process, and significantly expand BAFTA membership to include more people from under-represented groups — were previously announced and have been already been discussed in detail.
The Academy said it was extending eligibility requirements "until further notice," allowing films that were unable to do a theatrical release in the U.K. due to the coronavirus pandemic to qualify for the BAFTAs if they release on an "approved commercial VOD platform" for a minimum of 30 days to U.K. audiences during the eligibility period.
The rule, which will only apply for the 2021 BAFTA film awards, will allow movies that have been released in the U.K., in cinemas or online, from between January 1, 2020 —April 9, 2021, to submit for award consideration. For documentaries and submissions to the Films Not in the English Language category, the release window is Jan. 1 2020 – April 30, 2021. Films which were on theatrical release in U.K. on March 12, the date cinemas closed due to COVID-19 lockdown, will all be eligible to submit for BAFTA consideration.
BAFTA's new rules, the result of an extensive review conducted by the British Academy, will introduce a new longlist round of voting in all categories, with the first round —between Jan. 12-26, 2021—ahead of the Feb.4 announcement of the first longlist of contenders. A second round, from Feb. 19-March 1, will pick the nominees, to be announced March 9. The final round, from March 25-April 7, will select the winners of the 2021 BAFTAs, which will be announced at the British Academy Film Awards on April 11, 2021.
As previously announced, to qualify for the 2021 BAFTAs, films must meet new diversity requirements including in areas of on-screen representation, inclusivity among key crew, opportunities and industry access, and developing underserved audiences. The U.S. Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences cribbed many of new BAFTA rules for its diversity-focused criteria that will apply to the best film Oscar category from 2024 on.
Other significant changes include a goal of adding "at least" 1,000 new voting members to the BAFTA roles, to bring numbers up to 7,700, with a focus on recruiting from under-represented groups, expanding the best director longlist to a top 20, with the top eight female and top eight male directors included, and increasing the number of nominees in the outstanding British film category from six to 10, to give more room for smaller independent titles.
In an effort to prevent films with big campaigning budgets from dominating the awards, BAFTA has discontinued DVD screeners and will require all contending films to be made available to voters on its BAFTA View digital platform. Full details of the BAFTA rule changes and the calendar for the 2021 awards is available on the BAFTA website.
Article by: Scott Roxborough for the Hollywood Reporter.
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