Industries in Depth

94% of all BAFTA film award nominees have been white

A completed bronze British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA) mask is seen at a foundry in west London, Britain, February 7, 2017. REUTERS/Hannah McKay

There have only been five male BAME (Black and minority ethnic) nominations and just six BAME females. Image: REUTERS/Hannah McKay

Alison Millington
Lifestyle Editor, Business Insider UK

94% of all BAFTA film award nominees have been white, according to a new report.

The analysis, conducted by business psychology firm Pearn Kandola, also revealed that 92% of nominees for "Best Supporting Actor" and "Best Supporting Actress" have been white.

The firm looked at 11 of the glitzy award show's key categories to produce the analysis ahead of Sunday night's 71st BAFTAs — or British Academy Film Awards — happening at London's Royal Albert Hall.

The categories analysed were Best Leading Actor, Best Leading Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Rising Star, Best Director, Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Screenplay, and The BAFTA Fellowship.

The analysis found that only five BAME (Black and minority ethnic) males have ever been nominated for the "Best Leading Actor" award, and just six BAME females for "Best Leading Actress."

Further, the research also showed that all BAME actors who have won at the BAFTAs were in roles that "could only have been played by someone for an ethnic minority background." For Best Leading Actor, this includes Mahatma Gandhi (Gandhi), Ray Charles (Ray), Idi Amin (The Last King of Scotland), Solomon Northup (12 Years a Slave), and Dith Pran (The Killing Fields).

South Asian and Latino/Hispanic actors are also underrepresented, according to the report, being nominated for Best Leading Actor just three and five times respectively, while no East Asian actor has every been nominated. The same applies for Best Leading Actress, with Latina/Hispanic and East Asian women each getting only one nomination over time, while South Asian women have only been nominated twice.

Professor Binna Kandola OBE, Senior Partner and Co-Founder of Pearn Kandola, said: "This analysis clearly illustrates the lack of diversity in the BAFTA awards.

"It’s true that times are changing, and we must recognise the fact that many of the successful BAME candidates were nominated for their respective awards in the more recent part of the BAFTAs' extensive history. Despite this, the fact that even in this year's awards, nominees from BAME backgrounds are overwhelmingly outnumbered by their white counterparts, suggests that there is still a great deal of progress to be made."

When Business Insider reached out to BAFTA for comment, a spokesperson said: "As an industry we have a long way to go to achieve a level playing field in all areas of diversity.

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"As a leading player in our industry BAFTA is committed to driving change. We work hard to ensure that our policies and practices across all of our activity enable us to be open, accessible and inclusive. In recent years we have seen those changes start to take effect. We are continuing to address the challenge of encouraging inclusivity while maintaining BAFTA’s standards for excellence.

"One of the ways we are addressing this is by implementing the BFI Diversity Standards within our awards criteria for Outstanding British Film and Outstanding Debut from 2019."

You can see the full list of this year's nominations here.

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