The acting categories saw both Margot Robbie and Scarlett Johansson nominated twice each but no women of colour included
No people of colour were nominated in the acting categories of this year's BAFTA Film Awards, resulting in #BAFTAsSoWhite trending on Twitter.
Notable stars such as Lupita Nyong'o (Us), Eddie Murphy (Dolemite is My Name), Awkwafina (The Farewell) and Cynthia Erivo (Harriet) are among the names missed out of this year's nominations.
Twitter users have deemed the lack of diversity particularly disappointing given that both Margot Robbie and Scarlett Johansson received two nods each at this year's awards.
Marc Samuelson, chair of BAFTA's film committee, gave his thoughts on the acting nominees to Variety.
“Infuriating lack of diversity in the acting noms. It’s just a frustration that the industry is not moving as fast as certainly the whole BAFTA team would like it to be," he said.
On Tuesday morning, he spoke to Sky News about the all-male nominees in this year's directing category, citing a lack of representation as an industry-wide problem not limited to the BAFTA Film Awards themselves.
He said: "BAFTA can’t make the decisions for the studios as to which stories get told and who gets hired. All BAFTA can do is keep on pushing, which BAFTA will continue to do."
This is not the first time that an issue like this has reared its head, with #OscarsSoWhite becoming such a prominent campaign in 2016 that it prompted the Academy Awards to reform its voting structure.
In the years since, Hollywood's preeminent awards show has featured a more diverse set of nominees and winners.
The BAFTAs will take place on Sunday 2nd February 2020
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
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