by Mark Young
One Award Ceremony that is overlooked by, if not simply unknown to Americans, is the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards. The BAFTAs are essentially a cross of the Academy Awards and Golden Globes with a few marked differences. As the name gives away the BAFTA also recognizes television but there is more to their mission than just film and television. The BAFTA is committed to recognizing, supporting, and developing the art of the moving image; this includes video games.
The BAFTA Awards distinguish themselves from the Academy Awards by including television and games as awardable mediums, and focusing primarily on the British contribution to the film industry. The BAFTAs separate themselves from the Golden Globes by having separate ceremonies for the three categories of the moving image: Film, Television, and Video Games. Yet, they resemble the Academy Awards by having 6,500 members, who are all professionals in the field, voting on the awards. Video Games as a medium were added to the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards in 1998. As of 2003, Video Games were found to be so complete of an artistic expression that BAFTA gave them their own Awards ceremony: The BAFTA Game Awards.
BAFTA continues to be on the cutting edge of artistic advancement and expression. The practical efforts by BAFTA to facilitate change in the areas of sustainability are on the foreground of their mission to promote the moving image. The BAFTA Albert Consortium works with production companies to develop ways to reduce the carbon foot print of the moving image medium. One of the biggest advancements in this field is the move from celluloid based production to digital media production. BAFTA’s sustainability efforts seem to have realized that digital files and computer editing is the future of the industry.
If you follow the film awards season then you may notice that BAFTAs nominees are very similar to the ones recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Oscars. You can see their list of nominees here: BAFTA film nominees.
The BAFTA Film Awards will be held on February 16th, and broadcast live on BBC One.
The BAFTA Awards distinguish themselves from the Academy Awards by including television and games as awardable mediums, and focusing primarily on the British contribution to the film industry. The BAFTAs separate themselves from the Golden Globes by having separate ceremonies for the three categories of the moving image: Film, Television, and Video Games. Yet, they resemble the Academy Awards by having 6,500 members, who are all professionals in the field, voting on the awards. Video Games as a medium were added to the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards in 1998. As of 2003, Video Games were found to be so complete of an artistic expression that BAFTA gave them their own Awards ceremony: The BAFTA Game Awards.
BAFTA continues to be on the cutting edge of artistic advancement and expression. The practical efforts by BAFTA to facilitate change in the areas of sustainability are on the foreground of their mission to promote the moving image. The BAFTA Albert Consortium works with production companies to develop ways to reduce the carbon foot print of the moving image medium. One of the biggest advancements in this field is the move from celluloid based production to digital media production. BAFTA’s sustainability efforts seem to have realized that digital files and computer editing is the future of the industry.
If you follow the film awards season then you may notice that BAFTAs nominees are very similar to the ones recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at the Oscars. You can see their list of nominees here: BAFTA film nominees.
The BAFTA Film Awards will be held on February 16th, and broadcast live on BBC One.
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