As soon as the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) nominations were announced, #BaftasSoWhite appeared on Twitter.
A dissent was expressed over the BAFTA nominations by people across film fraternity and movie lovers criticising the awards for ignoring diversity.
A look at the nominations will show that none of the four acting categories (Leading Actor, Leading Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress) includes the contributions of people of colour.
Among the 20 major acting nominations, there were no actors of colour across all the categories with Margot Robbie (Best Supporting Actor for Once Upon A Time... ) and Scarlett Johansson ( Best Actress for MArriage Story ) picking up two nominations.
This is not the first time BAFTA that came under the lens of a diversity debate for not recognizing non-white actors and directors.
Many film critics used the hashtag to remind that movies like 'Parasite', 'Pain And Glory', 'The Farewell', 'Hustlers', 'Harriet', 'Us' and 'Clemency' with non-white stars, were worthy of more attention.
Commenting on the criticism, BAFTA's director of awards Emma Baehr was quoted by Hollywood reporter saying, 'We (BAFTA) would like to have seen more diversity in the nominations, it does continue to be an industry-wide issue,"
Baehr also said, seeing the list was 'disappointing' but the rise in the number of female directors gave them encouragement.
Popular western award ceremonies, including Oscars and Golden Globe, have received widespread backlash in the past as well.
Todd Philips' 'Joker' led BAFTA nominations as it grabbed 11 nods while 'The Irishman' and 'Once Upon a Time' followed in the list. Joaquin Phoenix-starrer 'Joker' is nominated in almost all the key categories including the best picture, best director for Todd Phillips, actor, cinematography, score, adapted screenplay and editing.
The awards ceremony will take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on February 2.