This year’s ceremony will exhibit the effects of top-down changes made to an institution with its eyes suddenly set on the future
Whatever the results, the 74th
British Academy Film Awards, which take place this weekend, will be almost unrecognisable from last year’s ceremony. This is not just thanks to the pandemic. Over the past 14 months, the prizes have undergone a transformation of unprecedented scope and rapidity.
The most evident and widely applauded change is the breadth and diversity of nominees, with Rocks – Sarah Gavron’s coming-of-age drama about a group of black British schoolgirls – leading the pack, alongside Chloé Zhao’s elegiac Nomadland. Both have seven nominations.