BAFTA film head reacts to shock at ‘Barbie’ snub

The Head of Film at BAFTA has responded to snubs in the recently announced nominations list.

The nominees for the prestigious awards were announced this afternoon, with Oppenheimer continuing to receive high praise this award season with 13 BAFTA nominations, following another impressive evening at the Critics Choice Awards on January 15.

However, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, which received high critical acclaim and broke multiple box office records, only received five nominations after being longlisted for 15 categories.

The movie, which was released in July last year, missed out on the nomination for Best Film, and Gerwig has not been recognised for her directing. Barbie has received nominations for Best Leading Actress (Margot Robbie), Best Supporting Actor (Ryan Gosling), Best Original Screenplay, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design.

BAFTA Head of Film, Anna Higgs, spoke about the nominations and omissions: “The field is so competitive. This year, our entries are up, so we’ve had more films to consider, but our members have been watching more hours and more films than ever before.”

She continued: “We really are trying to level the playing field and see films on their own merit, so there is a broader range of films in there.”

Other high-profile omissions in leading categories include Lily Gladstone for Best Actress, for her performance in Killers Of The Flower Moon, which has already won her a Golden Globe Award and a Critics Choice Award nomination. The movie’s director, Martin Scorsese, has also not been nominated for Best Director. Todd Hayne’s May December, starring Oscar winners Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman has received no nominations, nor has Nyad, the Netflix biopic starring Annette Bening and Jodie Foster.

New voting regulations brought in following BAFTA’s 2020 review, require each voting member to prioritise around 15 films before casting their vote, the selection of films called “viewing groups”.

“What we’re seeing numerically in the stats is that people are watching beyond their viewing group,” said Higgs.

“Anecdotally, I’m hearing from members that they love the viewing group. They don’t feel it’s an imposition. Members are saying they’re watching films they would never have heard of.”

In other news, Foster shared that she felt “proud” watching Barbie, and called Gerwig a “wonderful director”.