British Academy Awards ceremony or Bafta Awards will be postponed by two months, in 2021. This news came right after Hollywood said that the will be postponing Oscars 2021 from February to April next year due to coronavirus pandemic.
The British academy declared that the award ceremony will take place on April 11th instead of February 14th. Quite recently, the BAFTA Awards has even announced the eligibility rules in terms of all the movies which will not be getting a theatrical release. The ones that will not be getting a theatrical release will also be considered eligible for the BAFTA Awards.
Mark Samuelson, the Film Committee chairman has said that the decision to shift the dates would be helpful as it “would give all films the best possible chance to be released and properly considered.” Further details on the Award function will be announced later this year, said BAFTA in a statement to Variety. The eligibility period and the details regarding the same will also be announced soon.
BAFTA has also mentioned that the date for 2022 Film Awards was also under speculation. Going by the usual timeline of the ceremony, the date for 2022 Film Awards was supposed to be on 13th February, due to the pandemic the dates are obviously under consideration.
Any change in the findings and recommendation from the review published by the Film Academy will be announced soon. The eligibility window for feature films has also been pushed to February 28, 2021.
Movie theatres in Britain have been closed since March 20 because of the ongoing nationwide lockdown observed in Britain owing to the pandemic scare which has halted the release of films traditionally.
On Monday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the ABC Television Network had announced that the 93rd Academy Awards will be postponed and it will now be held on April 25, 2021, which is eight weeks after the originally announced or proposed date owing to the pandemic’s effects on the film and entertainment industry as a whole. There has been a total of 4 postponements in the history of the Oscars.
The British awards are usually seen to be held a week or two before the Oscars and are considered to be one of the most prestigious award functions.
“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,” BAFTA said in a statement.
