“We hope that it’s a more accurate representation of what is going on in the film industry,” says Deena Wallace, co-director of the British Independent Film Awards (Bifa), on the decision to adopt gender-neutral acting categories for the first time in 2022.
Wallace, who runs Bifa alongside Amy Gustin, says they have been considering it for the past few years. “You start to think, ‘Why do we have this split? We don’t do this in the directing category or any other category. What are the pros or cons?’
“We looked at the kinds of performances we were seeing that don’t necessarily fit the pattern of leading and supporting cast.”
There are usually two main concerns when the categories change: there will be fewer performers recognised overall; and without a ringfenced category for women, nominees could be male-dominated in an industry that still does not have a level playing field. To avoid either of those scenarios, Bifa has kept five total acting categories: lead performance, joint performance, supporting performance, ensemble and breakthrough performance (the latter has always been gender-neutral).
The most innovative new category is best joint lead, where nominees cannot also be nominated in best lead. In a year where no joint performances emerge, says Bifa, the voting group could decide to present two best lead performances instead.
The first winners of these revamped acting categories were unveiled on December 4; Tamara Lawrance and Letitia Wright won best joint lead for The Silent Twins; Rosy McEwan and Kerrie Hayes won best lead and supporting performance respectively for Blue Jean; and the cast of Our River… Our Sky collected the ensemble prize.
One reason Bifa is able to be nimble in creating and navigating its new categories is its relatively small size: it has just 1,000 voting members in total, of which 300 opted to vote for the nominations this year. Within this is a 40-person performance committee that acts as a nominating jury for these categories.
“Because of our scale, we use discussion in jury meetings that could pull out performances that might get overlooked,” Wallace says.
Bifa’s co-head was also conscious that previously having actress categories “was a guaranteed space to see that women were getting a space and we were taking that away. We knew we had to keep that balance, but our voters had been doing that with breakthrough for 20 years without thinking about it.”
Actress Tallulah Greive serves on the Bifa performance committee. “The divide between actor and actress has always felt arbitrary to me,” she says. “To just concentrate on the talent of the performers rather than their gender feels right for where we’re at, and it eases the process for our trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming peers.”
Distributors can submit entries for best joint lead, but in some cases, the committee flags up other joint performances, and each distributor or performer could decide whether they would prefer to be eligible in that category instead of best lead. (Best ensemble nominees, which included Blue Jean, Emily and Flux Gourmet, were decided solely by the voting subgroup at longlist stage.)
While Wallace says Bifa will take on board any learnings and feedback, one challenge for awards campaigners is how Bifa now slots into their overall awards strategies for individuals. Previously, a best actress win at Bifa could directly help a best actress campaign for Bafta.
“We all feel Bifa going gender-neutral is a step in the right direction — no other category has been split, so why should acting categories be split? And obviously it’s great for non-binary performers,” says one awards expert who asked to remain anonymous. “But from a campaigning perspective, there are fewer opportunities for a film to get a nomination or a win. With Bifa, do these new categories for joint lead and ensemble dilute the worth of one win?
“The main challenge from where I sit is that we need to ensure there are systems in place that the nominee list doesn’t become all female or all male. I’ll also be interested to see how Bafta responds.” (Bifa’s best lead category landed on a 6-2 split between women and men, while the supporting category went 7-2 in favour of women.)
Ongoing consideration
Bafta says its categories are confirmed for 2023 but anything is possible beyond that. “We support, and are engaged in, proactive and thoughtful consultation on this subject,” a Bafta spokesperson told Screen International. “This includes ongoing consultation with our sector peers, industry stakeholders and experts in this field, as well as expanding the use of our entry data to inform these conversations which will be considered by the Bafta film and TV committees when setting the eligibility criteria for our future awards.”
Bafta’s Rising Star award has always been gender-neutral, with an even mix of men and women over the past seven years; Lashana Lynch took it home this year.
The Grammys were one of the first to go gender-neutral in 2012; the MTV Movie Awards followed in 2017 and the Gotham Awards in 2021. The Film Independent Spirit Awards and Canadian Screen Awards are now too.
Ampas — which has 10,000 voting members — has said it is engaging in discussions around representation and inclusivity in the industry. It is conducting research and holding conversations about such topics with key members, stakeholders and affinity groups, but has made no steps yet towards going gender-neutral.
At the European Film Awards, Matthijs Wouter Knol, CEO and director of the European Film Academy, says: “For 2023, a survey among all academy members is planned which will cover a plethora of areas, but will also delve into this and directly related questions around equality, equity and representation. Based on this survey and by analysing the state of the industry, the European Film Academy will evaluate in which way changes can contribute to a better representation of talent in our work.”
The 2021 Berlinale was the first major festival to make the change; San Sebastian followed this year, while Locarno will make the switch from 2023.
Mariette Rissenbeek, executive director of the Berlinale, says: “When the Berlinale signed the 50/50 by 2020 pledge in 2019, it committed itself to improve gender parity. Carlo [Chatrian, artistic director] and I took on our roles in 2020 and as a next step, we considered it the right moment to increase opportunities for women, transgender people and gender non-conforming people.
“With the gender-neutral acting awards we want to ensure that those who do not feel represented within a binary system are fully included at the festival. We regarded it as respectful to evaluate the work of an artist without having to specify one’s gender for a particular award.”
Chatrian adds: “By implementing gender-neutral acting awards, we have not shortened the number of acting awards at all. We continue to have two awards — one Silver Bear for best leading performance and, as a new category, one Silver Bear for best supporting performance.”
Cannes Film Festival told Screen it would not comment about the topic at this time.
With the early adopters in the field showing a good gender split of nominees and winners so far, New York-based Melissa Silverstein, founder and publisher of Women and Hollywood and artistic director of the feminist Athena Film Festival, says: “Gender-neutral categories are clearly the direction we’re going in. What needs to happen on these nomination juries is that they have to be more deliberate. They have to make sure there is some semblance of balance not only on gender but also on race. We must be proactive for inclusion.”
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