BAFTAs 2020: Prince William talks lack of diversity in the awards
Prince William and Kate Middleton make an impressive arrival at the BAFTAs 2020 red carpet.
Prince William and Kate Middleton joined a host of A-listers at the BAFTAs 2020 held on Sunday. As the president of EE British Academy Film Awards and guest of honour, Duke of Cambridge addressed the crowd and spoke about the "lack of diversity" at the BAFTAs, this year.
At the 73rd British Academy Film and Television Awards, the royal parents-of-three presented the highest honour award called the Fellowship award to "Star Wars" producer Kathleen Kennedy. In his speech, Prince William acknowledged the exceptional work filmmakers across the countries have made to the film industry, but he also expressed his disappointment that the awards still fail to include other ethnicities.
"Both here in the UK and in many other countries across the world we are lucky to have incredible filmmakers, actors, producers, directors, and technicians - men and women from all backgrounds and ethnicities enriching our lives through film," the Duke said. "Yet in 2020, and not for the first time in the last few years, we find ourselves talking again about the need to do more to ensure diversity in the sector and in the awards process – that simply cannot be right in this day and age!" he added.
According to Daily Mail, the nominees in the main categories such as actor, actress, supporting actor and supporting actress evidently lacked diversity and only included people belonging to the white race. Meanwhile, the directors only included all-white male.
After the ceremony, The Duke and Duchess met the winners of the 27 awards categories, including the cast and crew of @1917 which won 7 awards.
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) February 3, 2020
Congratulations to all the winners at the 2020 @BAFTA Awards! #EEBAFTAs pic.twitter.com/UgNXpSpKuC
"I know that both Pippa (Harris), Chair of BAFTA, and Amanda (Berry), BAFTA CEO, share that frustration and continue to work tirelessly to ensure that creative talent is discovered and supported. BAFTA takes this issue seriously, and following this year's nominations, have launched a full and thorough review of the entire Awards process to build on their existing work and ensure that opportunities are available to everyone."
![Duke and Duchess of Cambridge](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1492702/duke-duchess-cambridge.jpg?w=736&f=d48b1e125730975cd065ebe30afd167c)
The British Academy of Film and Television Awards is an arts academy charity that supports, develops, and promotes various kinds of art forms in the United Kingdom. Apart from the award ceremonies, the academy hosts a series of learning events, workshops, masterclasses, lectures, and scholarships across the UK and the US. As per the official website, BAFTA aims at enriching everyone's life with culturally and creatively rich work in film, games, and television.
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