BAFTA snubs women directors in 2018 nominations, criticised for lack of diversity

The award season this year is heating up as usual, but for reasons long ignored in an industry facing a serious introspection over gender equality and diversity, on both sides of the Atlantic. The British Academy has overlooked diversity and women directors in its BAFTA 2018 nominations as reported by Variety. While only 2 of the 20 actors nominated are not white, there is a complete absence of women director’s in the Best Film & Best Director category this year. The all male shortlist has been entrenched in the awards’ history with only 7 previous instances of women directors being nominated since 1968, the inception of the BAFTA awards, which includes Kathryn Bigelow, nominated twice and the sole female winner of the prestigious Best Director award in 2010 for The Hurt Locker. Besides, no woman director has received a BAFTA nomination since 2013 as reported by Variety. [caption id=“attachment_4298567” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] BAFTA awards. BAFTA[/caption] “Of course we want to see women in the best director category. It is a reflection of the industry to a certain extent and we should be doing something about it, and that’s why we have BAFTA Elevate. It’s not about blaming people. It’s about what can we do to make it different,” said Jane Lush, BAFTA Chair to Variety. With films like Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird and Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, the imbalance in this year’s nomination is being questioned. As reported by Variety, Kate Kinnimot, chief executive of Women in Film & TV commented on the issue and said, “It’s a much bigger issue than BAFTA or the Golden Globes. It’s more about the culture we live in than a particular festival or organization. If there are only 7% of women directing films, then if you are choosing five, the chances of [nominations] are slim. It’s really about how women are perceived on the business side.” “It is disappointing to see that women directors are being overlooked, yet again,” said Susanna White, chair of the Directors UK Film Committee in a statement to Variety. The all male line up for the top award are: Denis Villeneuve for Blade Runner 2049, Luca Guadagnino for Call Me by Your Name, Christopher Nolan for Dunkirk_,_ Guillermo Del Toro for The Shape of Water, and Martin McDonagh for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.