The British Academy has announced new changes to film award eligibility and voting rules for the 2027 film awards, but these are small adjustments compared to the major edits AMPAS recently made for the Oscars.
One of the main changes was to the Best British Film category, with the longlist expanded from 15 to 20 films after the first round of voting. The category will maintain 10 nominations, of which 5 will be selected by member vote and 5 will be selected by the nomination jury.
BAFTA’s executive director of awards and content, Emma Behr, said: “We just wanted to widen the scope of consideration and encourage more members to see and vote for more British films.” “For us, it’s a celebration and it’s our flagship category.”
Another adjustment will be in the acting category, where members of BAFTA’s casting department will be invited to vote alongside the acting category on the shortlist and nomination rounds. The decision here was aimed at “improving professionalism,” Beyer said. He points out that there are more than 700 performance candidates to consider across four categories, which close a week earlier than other categories. “So it’s really important that we continue that engagement.”
But BAFTA didn’t follow the Oscar path, making changes earlier this year to allow performers to receive multiple nominations in the same category. In fact, this has been allowed by the British Academy before, most notably in 2020 when Margot Robbie was nominated for two Best Supporting Actress nominations, but was subsequently banned following an extensive review. “This is one of our key rule changes, and that’s not allowed,” Baehr said. “We want to level the playing field in these performance categories.”
Given the growing impact of AI, the British Academy is also making further adjustments to clarify its approach to the technology. “This award is given annually to recognize, celebrate and reward outstanding human achievement in creating, shaping and realizing the final artistic outcome, regardless of the tools used to bring the work to life. Where the use of generative AI or other digital tools is relevant to the consideration of a work, BAFTA reserves the right to request additional information regarding the nature of such use and the scope of human creativity involved.” ”
Baehr said the addition gives BAFTA “an opportunity to dig a little deeper if there’s something we want to confirm.” However, it will be up to the film commission to decide whether a film does not meet the qualifications and regulations. When asked if it was possible for a fully AI-generated film or AI performance to be nominated, Baehr said: “It’s always a human who wins a BAFTA.” (Sorry, Tilly Norwood).
Elsewhere, BAFTA continues to mandate anti-bullying and harassment policies for the UK category, which require production entrants to declare compliance with standards set by CIISA (Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority). But it now requires the information for all submitted works, but insists it is not required for works outside the UK category. This will be monitored with the “expectation that it will become mandatory in the future,” the statement said.
In addition to the rule changes, the British Academy has also revealed key dates for the upcoming film awards. Entries will open on July 22nd and first round voting will begin on December 4th. The longlist will be published on January 7th, the same day voting opens for the second round, and final nominations will open on January 19th. Final voting begins on January 26th and the BAFTA Film Awards ceremony will be held on February 21st.
