BAFTA - BAFTA RULE CHANGE AFFECTS HIGH-PROFILE MOVIES

BAFTA RULE CHANGE AFFECTS HIGH-PROFILE MOVIES

A new rule put in place by the British Academy Of Film And Television Arts (BAFTA) is preventing high-profile movies including CLINT EASTWOOD's LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA from being entered into the organisation's 2007 ceremony. In previous years, any film released before the end of March in the UK was eligible for BAFTA consideration. However, bosses have now decided all movies must come out before the ceremony, to be held on 11 February (07) in London. This ruling means Oscar hopeful Letters From Iwo Jima and ROBERT DE NIRO's second film as director, THE GOOD SHEPHERD, in which he also stars, can not be considered, as both have a scheduled 23 February (07) release. The GEORGE CLOONEY-starring THE GOOD GERMAN, with a 9 March (07) release date, will also miss out. ADAM DAWTREY, of industry magazine VARIETY, says, "This strikes at the very heart of the question of what commercial impact BAFTA actually has for distributors. "On the whole, there's a belief that the awards season overall has a significant commercial impact - not just the Oscars but the hype for months about the race, and clearly BAFTA is a part of that. "But if you take the BAFTAs out of that mix, do you not just have the same impact anyway, as far as a British audience is concerned?"