International Desk: The Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) which is due to take place on 28 February next year have been put back till 25 April. Organisers also agreed to extend the eligibility window to the end of February 2021.
Also, next year’s British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) have been pushed back to April 2021. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has already halted work on a number of films which were due to be released by the end of this year.
Also there is a new rule that there would always be 10 films in the “Best Film” category rather than a fluctuating number between 5 to 10. This new rule means more diverse film choices. However this rule won’t come into play until 2022.
The BAFTA ceremony which is suppose to take place on 14 April has been pushed back to 11 April 2021. Traditionally, BAFTA takes place two weeks ahead of the Academy Awards.
Like the Ocars, BAFTA has also changed its eligibility criteria. Now, the films that had on official release date during the lockdown period will now still be eligible if they choose to debut on video.
Notably, the Oscars has only been delayed three times before first time it was due to LA flooding in 1938. Second time it was after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in 1968 and third time it was after the attempted murder of President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
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