BAFTA head responds to backlash over lack of diversity in 2020 nominations

The 2020 BAFTA nominations are out, and have landed with an infuriating thud.

The nominees for the 73rd British Academy Film Awards were announced on Tuesday to public criticism over the lack of nods for people of colour and women.

The backlash prompted the chair of BAFTA’s film committee, Marc Samuelson, to admit the nominations were not as representative as they should be, but blamed the wider industry for the diversity problem.

“Infuriating lack of diversity in the acting noms,” he told Variety following the nominations his own committee decided on. "It’s just a frustration that the industry is not moving as fast as certainly the whole BAFTA team would like it to be."

Joker led the nominations with 11 in total, followed by Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood and Martin Scorsese's The Irishman with 10 nominations each.

The category for best supporting actress is causing one of the biggest stirs, with no people of colour nominated at all. In fact, Margot Robbie is up against herself, with two noms for Bombshell and Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood. Also nominated is Scarlett Johansson for Jojo Rabbit, Laura Dern for Marriage Story and Florence Pugh for Little Women.

Johansson is also nominated for best actress for Marriage Story, alongside fellow nominees Renee Zellweger (Judy), Jessie Buckley (Wild Rose), Charlize Theron for (Bombshell), and Saoirse Ronan for (Little Women). Zero people of colour.

Additionally, the category for best director features no women at all, with many online lamenting for the exclusion of Little Women director Greta Gerwig and The Farewell's Lulu Wang, among others, alongside nominees Sam Mendes (1917), Martin Scorsese (The Irishman), Todd Phillips (Joker), Quentin Tarantino (Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood), and Bong Joon-ho (Parasite).

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The male categories were pretty much the same deal. The only real exception was the Rising Star category, with nominations for Awkwafina, Kaitlyn Dever, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Jack Lowden, and Michael Ward.

The glaring lack of diversity for this year's BAFTA nominations has riled many up online, calling the noms "beyond a joke" and suggesting many outstanding actors and directors overlooked by the academy this year.

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BAFTA's director of awards and membership, Emma Baehr, told Variety the problem was an "industry-wide issue."

"We would like there to be more diversity in the nominations, but this continues to be an industry-wide issue," she told the publisher "We’d like to see more diverse nominations and we will work harder and push the industry more. But that shouldn’t take away from those who were nominated [this year]."

It might indeed be an industry-wide issue, but it's in the hands of industry-leading institutions and organisations to represent a wider net of talent in award ceremonies than just white dudes.

Do better, BAFTA.