BAFTA Winners Group Photo Provokes Anger Over “Deeply Regressive” Lack Of Diversity
20.02.2023 - 19:05
/ deadline.com
The #BaftaSoWhite hashtag was circulating once again on social media after the BAFTA Film Awards on Sunday night.
Anger about a lack of diversity among those who clinched prizes coalesced around a group picture of all the award winners on stage at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
Observers pointed out how the image appeared to feature just a single Black person: Alison Hammond, who co-hosted the BAFTAs with Richard E Grant.
Del Walker, a video game character artist and BAFTA member, said the photo showed that major awards ceremonies “appear to value European storylines about Europeans or White Americans.”
Here are the winners of the 2023 BAFTAs. The black woman is a presenter. Not even Oscar/GoldenGlobe winners Michelle Yeoh, Angela Basset, Viola Davis or Ke Huy Quan could break through. All judging systems have biases but this is broken.I'm not proud to be a BAFTA member today. pic.twitter.com/3A2IGewjHh
Ashanti Omkar, a film a TV commentator and BAFTA member, said the group shot provoked “deep pain in the pit of my stomach.”
Disappointed!! I've felt this deep pain in the pit of my stomach of late, as I'm seeing the #film industry behind the scenes and the supremacy that it flaunts in my face so much, day by day, so it's not a surprising result, but in 2023, it is deeply regressive and uncalled for ↓ https://t.co/j9aT8ZHcKW
Saima Mohsin, a Sky News and ITV presenter, added:
I watched clips of the #BAFTAS and didn’t see a single black or brown person winNot because they’e not white but because they’re good, really good and the best. In so many categories. Overlooked and ignored time & again So depressingUnconscious bias & systemic#BaftasSoWhite
Hanna Ines Flint, presenter of MTV Movies UK, described it as “qwhite a