Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Jul 05, 2025

Bafta Awards face backlash over all-white winners

Bafta Awards face backlash over all-white winners

The Bafta Awards have come under fire, after all the winners at its film ceremony on Sunday were white.

The prestigious British event had a diverse set of nominees, with people belonging to ethnic minorities taking almost 40% of acting shortlist slots.

But that did not translate into wins, with the 49 victors across all categories being white.

It comes three years after an outcry and subsequent reforms when all 20 acting nominees were white.

Cate Blanchett and Austin Butler won best lead actress and actor at the Baftas

Marcus Ryder, director of consultancy at the Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, said Sunday's results were "quite depressing", and showed there had been "no substantial change" over the past decade.

"Ten years ago, in 2013, Lenny Henry made headlines at the TV Baftas when he labelled it as 'All white on the night'," he said.

"And depressingly, despite a massive overhaul, on which I and many other industry people were consulted and which resulted in 120 changes to the Bafta award processes, 1,000 new members from under-represented groups etc, the end result is there is no substantial change."

The focus should not be on ceremonies like the Baftas, he said, which are "just the tip of the iceberg" of a wider film industry that "suffers from systemic racism".


Film and TV critic and Bafta short film jury member Ashanti Omkar said she felt "quite devastated" after watching the ceremony and seeing the group photo of winners.

"Alison Hammond was the only person of the global majority in it, and she was not a winner but working at the event like many others who added colour to the red carpet, performed music and presented awards," she said. "That felt regressive and like these were cosmetic steps forward as opposed to real systemic change."

Omkar said the winners all deserved awards, but that she worried about whether people were going "back to old voting practices" after progress in recent years.

"This is what I was feeling, and I honestly I was heartbroken," she told BBC News. "I felt quite devastated."


Writer and critic Leila Latif wrote in The Guardian that, on the night, there was a "creeping discomfort that the awards were benefiting from the work and presence of many people of colour without ever handing them a statuette".

"By the end of the night, when it slowly sank in that every single winner was white, you could practically feel the Bafta team's heads sink into their hands as they braced for yet another social media storm," she said.



Bafta declined to comment on the lack of diversity among its winners, but noted the reforms introduced in 2020. They included adding more voters with a focus on under-represented groups, and making voters see all longlisted films in the categories for which they vote.

The organisation's chairman Krishnendu Majumdar told the New York Times before the ceremony that he wants to "to level the playing field", but that recognition "has to be on merit".

Bafta chief executive Jane Millichip told the paper the process of reviewing the set-up would be ongoing and constant, and that the 2020 reforms were "not a perfect full stop".

In 2021 and 2022, half of the acting winners were not white.

Dr Clive Nwonka, who led a study into racial inequality in the UK film industry in 2021, said it would take five or six years to get a full sense of the impact of Bafta's changes.


This year, German-language World War One epic All Quiet On The Western Front was the big winner with seven awards, while Cate Blanchett and Austin Butler took the lead acting prizes.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Political Dispute Escalates Between Trump and Musk
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
US Senate Votes to Remove AI Regulation Moratorium from Domestic Policy Bill
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
Jury Deliberations in Diddy Trial Yield Partial Verdict in Serious Criminal Charges
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
King Charles Plans Significant Role for Prince Harry in Coronation
Two Chinese Nationals Arrested for Espionage Activities Against U.S. Navy
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
Trump Administration Considers Withdrawal of Funding for Hospitals Providing Gender Treatment to Minors
Texas Enacts Law Allowing Gold and Silver Transactions
×