The move coincided with the lull in British film production of the 1970s, but when a new wave of extraordinary British movies lit up the 80s, the case began to seem irresistible for another prize to reward the distinctive character of British film. In 1993, a British Film category was duly reintroduced, called the Alexander Korda Award for Outstanding British Film of the Year in honour of the great director/producer who founded the Academy in 1947.
The winner that year was The Crying Game, the first in a series of victorious films whose excellence spoke loud and clear as to why the award had been relaunched – their number including Shallow Grave, The Madness of King George, Secrets & Lies and Nil by Mouth.
Image: Still from The Crying Game (1992) of Jaye Davidson and Stephen Rea.
Video: Alan Bates presents the Alexander Korda Award for Outstanding British Film to Neil Jordan and Stephen Woolley for The Crying Game at the BAFTA Film & Television Awards in 1993 (Source: BBC Motion Gallery).