BAFTA Nominations
The following (edited) text about good times for documentaries in cinemas is taken from the Realscreen site:
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is reintroducing an award category for best documentary, “in recognition of the number of high-quality theatrical documentaries” being made. The new category will be simply called “Documentary”.
A theatrical documentary award was presented by BAFTA between 1948 and 1990, but dropped thereafter, with docs recognised in the major film categories only. In a statement, the organization said: “BAFTA’s Film Committee has chosen to re-introduce this category now in recognition of the number of high-quality theatrical documentaries released in cinemas in the UK each year.”
“Films from all countries will be eligible as long as they have a theatrical release in the UK. The award will only usually be presented if 15 or more films are entered. A specialist Documentary Chapter of BAFTA Film Voting Members will vote for a longlist of five films during the round one vote and then will vote again in round two to decide the three nominations. The winner will be selected by all Film Voters during round three voting.”
Asif Kapadia’s Senna (photo), James Marsh’s Project Nim and Martin Scorsese’s George Harrison, Living in the Material World have been selected as the three documentary prize nominees for the 2012 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Film Awards.
Notably, Senna also lands a nomination in the Outstanding British Film category – the first time a documentary has been nominated in the category since Marsh’s Man On Wire, which won the prize in 2009. Prior to that, Kevin Macdonald’s Touching The Void also picked up the award, in 2004.
Senna, Nim and Material World were culled from a five-strong doc longlist that also included Pina and Macdonald’s Life in a Day. The 2012 BAFTA Film Awards’ winners will be announced on February 12 at the Royal Opera House in London, England.
