BAFTA Announces New Rules and Slight Changes to Voting

The BAFTA is still trying to tinker with their awards to please the widest amount of people possible. They know they overplayed their hand in an attempt to be inclusive and fair by enlisting a special committee of a handful of people to “select” nominees. Last year’s disaster meant no Best Actress contender at BAFTA crossed over to the Oscars. This would not matter that much (surely not more than preserving their image as good people doing good things for the world) except for the fact that these awards are supposed to represent the BEST in a given year. True, biases come into play, but so does majority rule. That also has to be considered if you want anything like fair representation of the year in film and performances.

Let it be known that despite all these changes, after not ever nominating Denzel Washington for Best Actor they still managed to omit Washington last year for The Tragedy of Macbeth, even with a committee.

Regardless, the Hollywood Reporter highlights the new changes:

BAFTA has also confirmed the dates for its initial longlist and nominations announcements, ahead of the ceremony on Feb. 19 (moved back earlier in the year from its April date). The longlist will be unveiled on Jan. 6, 2023, following by nominations on Jan. 19. 

Some of the most noticeable changes for BAFTA voters have been put in place due to the earlier dates, with fewer films being longlisted in several categories to ensure people have time to watch them. The longlists for best film and all craft categories have come down from 15 to 10 titles; outstanding British film is now 15 instead of 20, and the director category is reduced from 20 to 16 (eight female- and eight male-directed features). The longlists for outstanding debut, British short film and British short animation categories, however, will remain unchanged at 10, 10 and 6, respectively.

And the following:

• Performance: The top three performances in all four performance categories in the round one chapter voting will be automatically nominated, up from two in 2022. The longlisting and nominating jury process remains the same as last year, with the nominating jury selecting the remaining three places on the nominations list (down from four last year) — with the total nominations staying the same at a total of six per category. 

• Director: The top two directors (regardless of gender) from the round one chapter vote will automatically be nominated. The top five female and top five male directors will be longlisted. The longlisting jury will select the remaining three female and three male directors to create a longlist of 16 (equal gender split). In round two, the nominating jury will select four directors to join the two automatically nominated in Round One, creating a nominations list of six. 

• Make Up & Hair: Eligible candidates for nomination will remain at head of department-level. Additional candidates may be submitted — up to a strict maximum of four nominees. 

• Producers: Producers eligible for nomination in the best film and outstanding British film categories are as determined by the PGA. From 2023, the PGA will also determine eligible producers in the animated film, documentary, and film not in the English language categories. In these three categories, if the PGA has not determined the eligible producers, the maximum number of eligible producers will remain at one (along with the director), without appeal. 

The BAFTAs will be held February 19, between the Directors Guild Awards and the Producers Guild Awards.