Bafta removes special awards after allegations against Noel Clarke
After the first round of selections, BAFTA finally announced the long-list for prizes as the awards season is kicking off. While the second round of voting is now underway, many promising projects have already surfaced as the front-runners with many people following the results of these ceremonies very closely in order to evaluate the cinematic output of 2021.
In the film categories, projects by prominent filmmakers such as Wes Anderson and Joel Coen have made it onto the long-list. Jane Campion’s return to the world of cinema has also been a very eventful one as her latest film The Power of the Dog, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, has broken Netflix’s record for the most number of Best Film nominations.
BAFTA also announced that they were sticking with the decision of cancelling the special awards following the backlash against Noel Clarke who was accused of sexual harassment and misconduct by multiple women. When the reports broke out, the committee revoked Clarke’s win for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema and cancelled his membership.
According to the evidence that surfaced since then, it has come to light that the committee was aware of Clarke’s crimes when they handed him the award. However, they maintained that they had only received anonymous emails outlining the situation and that they had no way to verify the veracity of the claims.
For 2022, the special awards section will remain cancelled as the organisation explained in a statement: “[A recent review] concluded that these awards remain a vital way to celebrate excellence and inspire future generations of talent across film, games and television and we look forward to honouring exceptional contributions to these industries in the future.
Adding, “Due to the time needed to properly implement the recommendations of this review, these non-competitive awards, including the Fellowship, will not be part of this year’s film awards or games awards ceremonies in 2022, but we intend to present special awards at our television awards ceremony in May.”
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