BAFTA Awards Criticized for Lack of Diversity in 2020 Nominations

In a press release that dropped back in June of 2018, the Academy detailed and touted the BFI Diversity Standards as part of an effort toward more representative nominees in the future. Tuesday's nominations, however, failed to show the same.

“Infuriating lack of diversity in the acting noms,” Marc Samuelson, chairperson of BAFTA’s film committee, told Variety when addressing this year's nominees. “It’s just a frustration that the industry is not moving as fast as certainly the whole BAFTA team would like it to be.”

Among the lameness in the 2020 class is the fact that zero women were nominated in the director category and all the nominees in the leading and supporting actor and actress categories are white.

In separate comments to the PA Media news agency, Samuelson acknowledged this, but characterized it as a larger problem than just the BAFTA Film Awards. "We can't make the industry do something," Samuelson said. "All we can do is encourage and push and inspire and try to help people coming in at the bottom end."

Joker leads this year's noms with 11, while The Irishman and Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood came in with 10. Understandably, however, the 2020 class of BAFTA nominees is being heavily criticized for all the reasons touched on above. Some have even shared alternate nominees, including Greta Gerwig and Lulu Wang.