The BAFTAs were so white. Again. So, what has gone wrong?

• The BAFTAs are facing backlash over the lack of diverse winners after similar controversy in 2020.
• 10 of the 24 acting nominations went to people of color, including Viola Davis and Michelle Yeoh.

The British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) are being criticized again over the lack of diversity among the actors and filmmakers recognized.

This year, 10 of the 24 acting nominees were people of color, including "Till" star Danielle Deadwyler, "Everything Everywhere All At Once" actor Michelle Yeoh, and Viola Davis for "The Woman King." The awards body also recognized filmmakers overlooked by their American peers, such as Park Chan-wook and Gina Prince-Bythewood in the directing category.

Yet, at the end of Sunday night's glitzy ceremony in London, a photo released online of the winners only featured one Black person — the event's cohost, Alison Hammond.

By Monday, Joaquin Phoenix's 2020 BAFTAs speech about systemic racism in the film industry was reshared on Twitter, rehashing the ceremony's bitter history with representation. That year, the awards were criticized for not nominating a single actor of color in any of the four major acting categories.

"I also feel conflicted — we send a very clear message to people of color that you're not welcome here," Phoenix said in 2020 as he accepted the award for best actor. "I don't think anybody wants a handout or preferential treatment. People just want to be acknowledged and appreciated and respected for their work."

But in 2023, it seems we are here again.

Following the 2020 controversy, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the body behind the awards, announced 120 changes as part of a review of awards voting. Among them, BAFTA vowed to add 1,000 new voting members with a "strong focus on recruiting" from underrepresented groups and created special juries to select longlists that ensured diversity.

But film critic Leila Latif, who penned a column about the controversy for The Guardian Monday, feels the institution itself is "further ahead" in advocating for change than its members who decide on awards.

"It's choosing Alison Hammond as its presenter. It's choosing people of color to be those musical acts, and it's putting in reforms, but, fundamentally, as progressive as BAFTA wants to be, it can't fix what's taken hundreds of years to build up," Latif told Insider.

"A lot of people went to private school, a lot of people have family wealth and went to Oxbridge and are white. Fundamentally the BAFTAs can't exist outside of the British film establishment, and so that is always going to come through."

Latif added that while specialized juries may get non-white filmmakers and actors through the nominations process, the final vote is open to all eligible BAFTA members, leading to the same problem as we had in 2020.

"We're talking about favorites rather than best, in a way," Latif said. "That's just a subjective argument, but I think it shows that this is a much bigger problem than can be dealt with than just a couple of committees. Because as soon as you open it up, it's the same old habit that they haven't been able to get away from."

Latif believes BAFTA must communicate more clearly to its voters its values in order to fundamentally change which actors and filmmakers are recognized at its awards.

"What is the philosophy of these awards? What makes them distinct? What is it about the Britishness of them that makes them distinct?" Latif said. "And, also, is your view of Britain including all different types of Britons?"

But while the BAFTAs and other award shows are often the focus of discussions regarding diversity, they are just the tip of the iceberg.

Marcus Ryder, the head of external consultancies at the UK's Sir Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, told Insider that focusing on the awards circuit distracts from "systemic racism throughout the entire industry."

"It's almost the equivalent of having a flesh [bandaid] so that you actually think that you're healed. There's a wound underneath there. We actually need to address the wound. We don't need a [bandaid]," Ryder said.

"I hope that instead of looking at ways in which we can reform the BAFTAs and the award process, which the BAFTAs has done admirably, this is far bigger than BAFTA," Ryder said. "One award ceremony or one organization will not change the film industry."

Ryder believes that more needs to be done to increase diverse representation within the industry. One example is to offer tax breaks to "financially incentivize" the industry to employ people from underrepresented groups. He said similar tax breaks have already been offered in California, New Jersey, and New York.

Latif agrees that underrepresentation needs to be addressed across the board, and not just at awards ceremonies.

"It's not a fair race from minute one," Latif said. "And then if you are black, or a woman, or queer, or even just experimental, there's about 47 other hurdles to clear."