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      'Judas and the Black Messiah' Named Best Film at 2021 AAFCA Awards

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      Warner Bros. Pictures

      The true-story movie about the late Black Panther leader Fred Hampton wins big at the African American Film Critics Association Awards by taking home the top honor.

      Mar 10, 2021
      AceShowbiz – “Judas and the Black Messiah” has been crowned Best Picture at the African American Film Critics Association Awards.
      The historical drama, chronicling the betrayal of Fred Hampton, the Illinois chairman of the Black Panther Party, which ultimately led to his death, picked up a total of four prizes, including Breakout Director for Shaka King.
      Daniel Kaluuya, who portrays the civil rights icon, and Dominique Fishback, who plays his partner, were also winners, securing the Best Supporting Actor and Actress accolades.
      “Serving alongside an all-Black producing team, Judas and the Black Messiah director Shaka King created a project that permanently enshrines pivotal Black Panther leader Fred Hampton as an American hero,” AAFCA President and co-founder Gil Robertson shares in a statement.
      “Released against the backdrop of the present-day Black Lives Matter movement, the film’s message of commitment and sacrifice to social justice is empowering.”
      “Daniel Kaluuya as Hampton is literally on fire and is supported well by Dominique Fishback, who increasingly has become an actress to watch. Our members are thrilled to award the film with our highest honor.”

        See also…

      Meanwhile, “One Night in Miami…” snagged a trio of awards – Best Director for Regina King, Best Screenplay for Kemp Powers, and Best Ensemble, and the Best Actor and Actress honours went to the late Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) and Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”).
      “Soul” claimed Best Animation and Best Foreign Film was awarded to “Night of the Kings”.
      The full list of winners was announced on Tuesday (09Mar21), weeks after Mariah Carey and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” director George C. Wolfe were named the respective recipients of the Innovator and Salute to Excellence accolades.
      Politician and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams’ documentary “All In: The Fight for Democracy” will also be recognised with the Stanley Kramer Award for Social Justice at the organisation’s 12th annual AAFCA Awards, which will take place online on 7 April (21).
      AAFCA members have also named their top 10 films of the year, recognising “Judas and the Black Messiah”, “One Night In Miami…”, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, “Nomadland”, “Night of the Kings”, and “American Skin”.
      “Da 5 Bloods”, “Minari”, “Miss Juneteenth”, and “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” also make the cut for the 2021 awards.

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      'I Care a Lot': The Inspirations Behind the Movie

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyMood Board‘Jackie Brown’ and Tangerine Dream: What ‘I Care a Lot’ Is Made OfThe writer-director J Blakeson behind the blade-sharp Netflix thriller shares the films, images and sounds that guided him in crafting the movie.Credit…Seacia Pavao/Netflix, via Associated PressMarch 9, 2021Updated 7:03 p.m. ETRosamund Pike recently earned a Golden Globe for her portrayal of the cunning, utterly amoral Marla Grayson in the Netflix thriller “I Care a Lot.” Marla shrewdly, confidently games the system to con elderly folks out of their savings — until her latest victim’s son (Peter Dinklage) starts paying close attention. It is a dagger of a performance that is of a piece with the writer-director J Blakeson’s film, a “slick, savage caper” dominated by bold visual and sonic choices, and humor as black as Marla’s outfits are bright.In a video call from his home in London, Blakeson discussed some of the photos, songs and movies that inspired him when he was working on “I Care a Lot.”‘Jackie Brown’ (1997) by Quentin TarantinoCredit…MiramaxCredit…Seacia Pavao/Netflix, via Associated PressLike Pike’s Marla, Pam Grier’s title character is a smart master of the double cross and steers this vastly entertaining crime movie. “This is a film that I talked a lot about with both my cinematographer [Doug Emmett] and my production designer [Michael Grasley],” Blakeson said. “It felt like a good touchstone, tonally, for where we might end up.”As a flight attendant, Jackie Brown spends quite a bit of the film in her uniform. “She has that blue suit that she wears and now and again you’ll see that just against this bright green wall,” Blakeson said. “The joy I get from that is similar to the joy I get from seeing some of those Godard films where you have people in bright yellow or bright red or bright blue against a neutral background, and they really pop out in this sort of Technicolor/Kodachrome palette. In ‘Jackie Brown,’ she has a job where she’s always kind of wearing the same clothes, but you get this iconic look that she carries through the whole movie. And I really wanted Marla to feel iconic and memorable as a character — a very cinematic character rather than a realist character.”Harry GruyaertCredit…Harry Gruyaert/Magnum PhotosCredit…NetflixA major influence on the visual language of “I Care a Lot” is this acclaimed Belgian photographer. “It’s street photography, more or less, but the real world is really colorful and really interestingly framed,” the director said. “There’s a photograph where the yellow lines are really bright and somebody’s walking down the street wearing a brightly colored coat. It looks orchestrated, but it’s not. Our world is colorful, we just don’t see it because we don’t stop and look at it very much.”Marla herself benefits from people not looking, which feeds her confidence. “She has big windows in her office and you can just see in; she knocks on the door of a blue house in a yellow suit,” Blakeson said. “She’s not hiding away in a dark corner — she’s doing it out in the open.”‘Rid of Me’ by PJ HarveyCredit…NetflixBlakeson was listening to music at the gym when the title track of PJ Harvey’s second album (1993) really hit him. “The beginning of the song is very quiet, so you’re turning it up to try to hear, and suddenly it gets to the chorus and it blows your head off,” he said. “I started thinking about somebody trying to kill Marla, and she’s not going to die. The section where she escapes from a car underwater was written in my head while I was listening to ‘Rid of Me.’ Just a basic idea of, ‘I’m not going to go away, I’m not going to be beaten.’ When she gets out of the water, she screams — it’s like singing along to ‘Rid of Me.’”Pike asked the music-loving director to put together a list of songs Marla would have listened to as a teenager, and he included a lot of 1990s rock titles from bands like Ministry. “She sent me a text saying, ‘I think I just got caught speeding because I was listening to your playlist,’” Blakeson said.‘Ace in the Hole’ by Billy WilderCredit…Paramount PicturesCredit…NetflixA longtime admirer of the director of “Double Indemnity” and “The Apartment,” Blakeson singled out his 1951 pitch-black film about a corrupt journalist, Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas), who exploits an accident in which a man is trapped in a cave-in, even prolonging the ordeal. “He was so mercenary, would do such disgustingly manipulative things for his own gain,” Blakeson said of Tatum. “His ambition is driving and he’s just a passenger.”This, of course, is very much like Marla, whose ruthlessness and fearlessness fully emerge in a confrontation with Dinklage’s character. “Usually in the movies that’s where the woman is weeping and begging for her life, but Marla sees it as an opportunity to give her elevator pitch to a wealthy person,” Blakeson said. “There’s a bit in ‘Ace in the Hole’ where he’s trying to reassure the guy underground, and he’s lying because he could actually just get him out really quickly. That sort of manipulation of people is really interesting to me.”Alex PragerCredit…Courtesy Alex Prager Studio and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul and London.Credit…NetflixAnother photographic influence was this American artist’s meticulously staged pictures. “There is a sense of the surreal, but it is dramatic and melodramatic,” Blakeson said. “There’s a forced absurdity about it that we wanted to bring to this [film] a little bit. Like when Jennifer [Dianne Wiest] goes into the care home with those muted colors — all these nurses offering their chocolates and smiling at her, that sort of seems odd and surreal and disconcerting. Also certain moments in the scene with Peter and Rosamund facing off in the quarry. The lighting is kind of blue and red and like giallo [films] or something. We really wanted to push it.”‘Love on a Real Train’ by Tangerine DreamCredit…Warner Bros.Credit…NetflixThis German electronic band started off as an underground purveyor of so-called cosmic rock before bursting into the mainstream with its dreamy, repetitive contributions to such 1980s movies as “Risky Business” — where this track appears.“‘Love on a Real Train’ makes me think of the future and the past at the same time,” Blakeson said. “You feel like there’s ambition in there: The world is going to be a better place somehow if we join the American dream.”That feeling is echoed, often with menacing undertones, in Marc Canham’s pulsating electronic score for “I Care a Lot.” When working on the film, Canham, the composer, and Blakeson brought up the minimalist composers Philip Glass and Steve Reich, early-1980s tracks like Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman,” and more recent abstract electronic work by Aphex Twin and Orbital, but Tangerine Dream was a constant. “There’s a very dreamlike quality, which is sort of nostalgic and yearning but also kind of cold and calculating, and that’s a film about capitalism and business,” Blakeson said of “Risky Business.”“Obviously, it’s a very different version of business than in ‘I Care a Lot,’” he added, laughing.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Chloe Zhao, David Fincher, Regina King Among Movie Nominees at 2021 DGA Awards

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      WENN

      The upcoming Directors Guild Awards will see the filmmakers of ‘Nomadland’ and ‘Mank’ battle it out for Best Director while the ‘One Night in Miami…’ helmer is up for the best first-timer title.

      Mar 10, 2021
      AceShowbiz – Two women and two people of colour will compete for the top prize at this year’s Directors Guild Awards.
      “Minari” ‘s Lee Isaac Chung, “Promising Young Woman” ‘s Emerald Fennell, “Mank” ‘s David Fincher, “The Trial of the Chicago 7” ‘s Aaron Sorkin, and “Nomadland” ‘s Chloe Zhao are in the running for the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film honour.
      Announcing the nominees on Tuesday (09Mar21), DGA president Thomas Schlamme said, “Throughout these challenging and isolating times, the universal power of film has served such a meaningful role in our culture, helping fulfill our needs for human connection, expanding our worldviews, and keeping us inspired through stunning storytelling and artistry.”
      “I congratulate our five nominees whose diverse and extraordinary films embodied that universal power in a year that will never be forgotten.”

        See also…

      Meanwhile, the filmmakers behind “The Forty-Year-Old Version”, “I’m No Longer Here”, “One Night in Miami…”, “Sound of Metal”, and “The Father” will compete for the Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director honour.
      Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film:

      Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director:

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      'Nomadland' and 'Rocks' Top Nominations at 2021 BAFTA Film Awards

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      Hulu/Netflix

      The Chloe Zhao-directed movie and the Sarah Gavron-helmed feature dominate the nominations at this year’s BAFTA film awards by collecting seven mentions each.

      Mar 10, 2021
      AceShowbiz – Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” and Sarah Gavron helmed “Rocks” are leading the field for top honours at the 2021 BAFTA film awards which announced nominations for four movies directed by women on Tuesday (9Mar21).
      “Nomadland” and “Rocks” lead the nominations for the 2021 ceremony, with seven nominations apiece in a highly diverse nominations list, with 16 of the 24 acting nominees this year coming from ethnic minority groups.
      Zhao, who won best director at the Golden Globes, and Lee Isaac Chung – whose “Minari” took best foreign language film at the same event – will face Shannon Murphy for “Babyteeth”, Jasmila Zbanic for “Quo Vadis Aida?”, Thomas Vinterberg for “Another Round”, and Gavron for “Rocks” for best director.
      And by contrast to last year’s (20) controversial nominations, when not one actor of colour was nominated in the acting categories Daniel Kaluuya, the late Chadwick Boseman, Riz Ahmed, Dominique Fishback, Tahar Rahim, and Bukky Bakray are among the 16 nominees from ethnic minority backgrounds in the acting categories.
      The nominations were presented by BAFTA chair Krishnendu Majumdar and presented virtually by actors Aisling Bea and Susan Wokoma.
      The winners will be announced at a ceremony without a live audience on 11 April.
      Complete list of nominations:
      Best Film:

      Best Leading Actress:

      Best Leading Actor:

      Best Supporting Actress:

      Best Supporting Actor:

      Outstanding British Film:

      Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer:

      Best Film Not in the English Language:

      Best Documentary:

      Best Animated Film:

      Best Director:

        See also…

      Best Original Screenplay:

      Best Adapted Screenplay:

      Best Original Score:

      Best Casting:

      Best Cinematography:

      Best Editing:

      Best Production Design:

      Best Costume Design:

      Best Make-Up and Hair Design:

      Best Sound:

      Best Special Visual Effects:

      Best British Short Animation:
      “The Fire Next Time”
      “The Owl and the Pussycat”
      “The Song of a Lost Boy”

      Best British Short Film:
      “Eyelash”
      “Lizard”
      “Lucky Break”
      “Miss Curvy”
      “The Present”

      EE Rising Star Award (voted for by the public):
      Bukky Bakray
      Conrad Khan
      Kingsley Ben-Adir
      Morfydd Clark
      Sope Dirisu

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      U.S. Lawmakers Suggest 25 Movies About Latinos to the Film Registry

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyU.S. Lawmakers Suggest 25 Movies About Latinos to the Film RegistryBy diversifying the films added to the national registry, members of Congress hope that more opportunities will open up for Latinos in Hollywood.Salma Hayek during the shooting of “Frida“ (2002), which is on the list of the caucus’s nominees.Credit…Miramax FilmsMarch 8, 2021The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is continuing work it started in January, when it nominated the movie “Selena” for the National Film Registry, with a list of 25 more films it would like to see the registry add.The movies nominated by the caucus last week are from as early as 1982, and they also include films like “Spy Kids” (2001), a comedy featuring a Latino family, and “Frida” (2002), an Oscar-winning movie about the artist Frida Kahlo. The registry typically adds new movies in December.“It is essential that the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry reflect the true diversity of American culture,” the chairman of the caucus, Representative Raul Ruiz, a Democrat from California, said in a statement. “Including more Latino films in the National Film Registry will help elevate Latino stories, promote an inclusive media landscape, and empower Latino filmmakers and storytellers.”Established by Congress in 1988, the registry preserves films that it deems “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.” Each year, a committee selects 25 films to add.“The Library of Congress is grateful for the nominations from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and for their interest in the National Film Registry,” Brett Zongker, a spokesman for the Library of Congress, said in a statement, adding, “The registry seeks to ensure the preservation of films that showcase the range and diversity” of America’s film heritage.Latinos make up the largest minority group in the United States, at 18.5 percent of the population. But they continue to be underrepresented in films and on television. A 2019 study from the University of Southern California’s School for Communication and Journalism found that only 4.5 percent of all speaking characters across 1,200 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2018 were Latino.Of the nearly 800 films in the registry, at least 17 are examples of Latino stories. The number of Latino directors in the registry is tiny: There are 11. Of them, nine are men and two are women.Representative Joaquin Castro, a Democrat from Texas, led the move for nominations. Latino creators and their stories are often pushed away by gatekeepers of American culture, like Hollywood and the national registry, Castro has said. He added that Latinos are often portrayed negatively in all media — as gang members, drug dealers or hypersexualized women.In a letter to the Librarian of Congress, Castro and Ruiz wrote that such misconceptions and stereotyping in media are significant factors “motivating ongoing anti-Latino sentiment in American society,” affecting areas “from immigration law to the education system to the current public health crisis.”The caucus’s list was developed through feedback from constituents, and movies were also identified by, among others, the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, the National Hispanic Foundation of the Arts, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the Latinx House (which uses a gender-neutral term for Latinos).“Our stories have often been missing from American film, and even less often been recognized as important cultural pieces in American history,” Castro said in a phone interview. “This is an effort to change that.”The 25 films the caucus chose reflect stories from a variety of nationalities, including Mexican, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Cuban, Colombian, Argentine, Salvadoran and Nicaraguan.The list speaks to many parts of the Latino experience, including people who are native to the United States and its territories and those who migrated to the country because of its politics and interventions in Latin America, Theresa Delgadillo, a Chicana and Latina studies professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in an interview.“It is an important way to influence that diversity effort in an industry,” Delgadillo said about the caucus’s effort.She and other professors, though excited about the effort, were also critical of the list, because, they say, there were few stories about Latinas and L.G.B.T.Q. people. AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      ‘On-Gaku: Our Sound’ Review: They Will Rock You

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyCritic’s Pick‘On-Gaku: Our Sound’ Review: They Will Rock YouThe anime film, which took seven years to produce, combines groovy musical vibes with delightfully deadpan humor.“On-Gaku: Our Sound” is a quirky homage to classic animation and 1960s-70s rock.Credit…GkidsMarch 9, 2021, 5:12 p.m. ETOn-Gaku: Our SoundNYT Critic’s PickDirected by Kenji IwaisawaAnimation, Drama, MusicalNot Rated1h 11mFind TicketsWhen you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission.Rock ’n’ roll is here to stay, and so is “On-Gaku: Our Sound,” a quirky homage to classic animation and 1960s-70s rock with an idiosyncratic style and the thrumming heart of a musician.In the film, directed by Kenji Iwaisawa, three high school friends with nothing better to do than play video games and ambivalently pick fights with a rival gang impulsively decide to start a band. The friends end up performing in a local music festival — despite their utter lack of musical knowledge. Narratively that’s the extent of it, but “On-Gaku” is a subdued filmmaking experiment, with the visuals and sounds of the movie positioned in the forefront of our attention. No worries, just good vibes.[embedded content]In a world of C.G.I.-everything, “On-Gaku” comes as a refreshing blast from the past; the film, full of soft, streamlined animation, took more than seven years to produce with over 40,000 hand-drawn frames. Allusions to the wonder years of rock abound (music is by Tomohiko Banse), from the black bowl cuts of the Beatles and the famous crossing of Abbey Road to the more rebellious shaggy-haired style of the Rolling Stones.Expertly atmospheric, the brief film (71 minutes, not one minute too long) includes the sounds of gentle folk and smooth, lengthy sequences of, say, the friends simply walking down the street to a funky bass line. Other scenes erupt with the cacophonous crash and bash of an arena performance, as Iwaisawa uses the process of rotoscoping, tracing over real movie footage to animate the characters’ movements.This offbeat jam session is also peculiarly funny; the deadpan absurdism of the writing is accentuated by Iwaisawa’s bold direction, which uses long periods of stillness and silence and odd shifts in action. The guys in “On-Gaku” may be new to the stage, but this droll musical comedy tops the charts.On-Gaku: Our SoundNot rated. In Japanese, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 11 minutes. Rent or buy on Apple TV, FandangoNow and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Directors Guild Nominations Make History With Two Female Contenders

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyDirectors Guild Nominations Make History With Two Female ContendersThe group has never nominated more than one woman in a year. Emerald Fennell and Chloé Zhao made the cut, along with Lee Isaac Chung, Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher. Emerald Fennell, second from right, on the set of “Promising Young Woman,” with her cast and crew, including Carey Mulligan, left, and Laverne Cox.Credit…Merie Weismiller Wallace/Focus Features, via Associated PressMarch 9, 2021, 2:07 p.m. ETThe Directors Guild of America announced its feature-film nominees on Monday that included more than one woman in the top directing category for the first time in the guild’s 72-year history.The selection of Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”), Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”), David Fincher (“Mank”), Aaron Sorkin (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”) and Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) contained no curveballs: These five films have all had strong awards-season runs and are considered to be best-picture locks when the Oscar nominations are announced on March 15.Still, the inclusion of both Zhao and Fennell in the same race was a first for the guild. Though eight of the previous 10 DGA Award lineups were all-male, the guild has a slim but somewhat better track record than the Oscars when it comes to nominating women: Lina Wertmüller, Randa Haines, Barbra Streisand, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola, Valerie Faris, Kathryn Bigelow and Greta Gerwig have all made the Directors Guild cut in years past, while only Wertmüller, Campion, Coppola, Bigelow and Gerwig were also nominated for an Oscar.The guild’s selections tend to line up fairly closely with those of the movie academy, give or take one substitution: Last year, Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”), Sam Mendes (“1917”), Martin Scorsese (“The Irishman”) and Quentin Tarantino (“Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood”) were recognized by both groups, though DGA nominee Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rabbit”) was supplanted by “Joker” director Todd Phillips come Oscar time.That could provide a path forward for the “One Night in Miami” director Regina King, who was nominated for the best-director Golden Globe but missed the cut here. The guild did recognize King in the category reserved for first-time filmmakers, where she was nominated alongside Radha Blank (“The Forty-Year-Old Version”), Fernando Frías de la Parra (“I’m No Longer Here”), Darius Marder (“Sound of Metal”), and Florian Zeller (“The Father”).Here is the DGA Award nomination lineup:Outstanding Directorial Achievement — Feature“Mank,” David Fincher“Minari,” Lee Isaac Chung“Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao“Promising Young Woman,” Emerald Fennell“The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Aaron SorkinOutstanding Directorial Achievement — First-Time Feature“The Forty-Year-Old Version,” Radha Blank“I’m No Longer Here,” Fernando Frías de la Parra“One Night in Miami,” Regina King“Sound of Metal,” Darius Marder“The Father,” Florian ZellerOutstanding Directorial Achievement — Documentary“Boys State,” Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss“My Octopus Teacher,” Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed“The Painter and the Thief,” Benjamin Ree“The Truffle Hunters,” Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw“Welcome to Chechnya,” David FranceAdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      BAFTA Nominations: ‘Nomadland’ and ‘Rocks’ Lead Diverse List

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main story‘Nomadland’ and ‘Rocks’ Lead Diverse BAFTA NominationsBut the nominees include many independent films, after BAFTA overhauled its voting processes to rectify all-white, all-male shortlists.Frances McDormand in “Nomadland,” which won the award for best motion picture, drama, at the Golden Globes in February.Credit…Courtesy Of Searchlight Pictures/Searchlight Pictures, via Associated PressMarch 9, 2021Updated 12:56 p.m. ETLONDON — “Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao’s drama about a middle-aged woman who travels across the United States in a van seeking itinerant work, scored the biggest number of high-profile nominations for this year’s EE British Academy Film Awards, Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars.On Tuesday, the film, which stars Frances McDormand and won the Golden Globe for best drama in February, picked up seven nominations for the awards, commonly known as the BAFTAs.It will compete for best film against “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “Promising Young Woman,” “The Father” and “The Mauritanian.”The best-film nominees are almost the same as the titles that competed for best drama at this year’s Golden Globes. (Only “Mank,” David Fincher’s revisiting of “Citizen Kane,” is missing, replaced by “The Mauritanian.”) But in the talent categories for this year’s BAFTAs, the nominees are more diverse than the Golden Globe lists. Many come from low-budget, independent films, such as “Rocks,” a British coming-of-age tale about a Black teenager in London, that also received seven nominations. This appears to be the result of a recent overhaul of BAFTA’s voting rules to increase the diversity of the nominees after recent criticism. Last year, no people of color were nominated in the BAFTAs’ main acting categories, and no women were nominated for best director. Those omissions prompted a social media furor and criticism from the stage at the award ceremony. “I think that we sent a very clear message to people of color that you’re not welcome here,” Joaquin Phoenix said when accepting the best-actor award for his performance in “Joker.”BAFTA required all of its 7,000 voting members to undergo unconscious bias training before voting on this year’s nominees, as well as requiring them to watch a selection of 15 films to stretch the range of titles viewed. Among dozens of other changes to the voting procedures to increase the diversity of the nominees, they were selected for the first time from “longlists” prepared by BAFTA, with the input of specialist juries.In contrast to the male-skewed nominee lists of previous years, four of the best-director nominees announced on Tuesday are women; four of the six nominees in both leading actor categories are people of color. In the best-director category, for example, Chloé Zhao has been nominated for “Nomadland” and will compete against Lee Isaac Chung for “Minari”; Sarah Gavron for “Rocks”; Shannon Murphy for “Babyteeth”; Jasmila Zbanic for “Quo Vadis, Aida?” a retelling of a massacre in the Bosnian War of the 1990s; and Thomas Vinterberg for “Another Round,” a dark comedy about Danish attitudes to alcohol.In the best-actress category, Frances McDormand, the star of “Nomadland,” will compete against Radha Blank for her role in “The Forty-Year-Old Version,” Wunmi Mosaku for the horror film “His House,” and Bukky Bakray, the teenage star of “Rocks.” That list includes fewer recognizable star names than previous years: Rosamund Pike and Andra Day, who won the main actress awards at this year’s Golden Globes, are missing.Pippa Harris, BAFTA’s deputy chair, said in a video interview that the most important change that shaped this year’s nominations was the requirement that voters watch more films than usual, rather than letting them simply see those with the most buzz from other awards or marketing campaigns. “Time and again, people have emailed in, written in, phoned in to say that made a massive difference, and they watched films they would never have come to normally, and found work they absolutely loved,” she said. Movie awards are generally dominated by five or six highly touted films, said Marc Samuelson, the chair of BAFTA’s film committee, in the same interview. “If we’re disrupting that a bit, it’s a good thing,” he added.Some 258 films were submitted for consideration for this year’s awards, and they were watched over 150,000 times on a viewing portal created specifically for voters, he said.This year’s winners will be announced on April 11 at a ceremony in London. Samuelson would not explain how the event will be held, but he said it would conform with Britain’s coronavirus rules. Indoor events are not allowed in England until May 17 at the earliest. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is scheduled next Monday to announce nominations for this year’s Oscars.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More