Amid the coronavirus pandemic, many mega-events of this year and upcoming year have either been called-off or postponed. Earlier the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also announced its decision to postpone next year’s Oscar Awards by two months pertaining to the health crisis the world is facing. The Oscars will now be held on April 25, 2020, rather than in the month of February.
Meanwhile, the 2021 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards, will take place almost two weeks before the Oscars. The BAFTA Awards are now scheduled to be held on April 11. In a statement, BAFTA said, “This change from the previously announced date of February 14 acknowledges the impact of the global pandemic and accommodates an extended eligibility period. Further details on the ceremony will be announced later in the year.”
The change in date also hints for an extended eligibility period. Further details about the award function will be announced later. It’s understood that the review could continue into next year, but will be firmed up in time for 2021 awards. The awards’ shift from February to April now allows even more time for the review to be completed.
For the unversed, this year’s BAFTA Awards took place on February 2, followed by Oscars on February 9. The 2019 BAFTA Awards fell on February 10, with Oscars following up on February 25.
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The chairman of BAFTA’s committee, Marc Samuelson, told a news daily, “BAFTA has worked for the last three years with the BFI, and has been consulting with AMPAS, with the hope being that between the three organizations, we can create standards that will apply everywhere. It means that all of the various awards can be subject to passing diversity standards. That should in turn galvanize the progress of diversity across the whole industry.”