This year’s Bafta (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) film awards will be the first to take place since the organisation introduced a new set of eligibility rules, designed to increase diversity in the films it honours.

In 2016, Bafta announced that, in order to qualify in two of its award categories – outstanding British film, and outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer – films must conform to the BFI’s Diversity Standards. These were established in 2014 to increase the participation and representation of minorities and socially disadvantaged people in British film, and involve a “three tick” system covering content and personnel, intended to ensure that only qualifying films can access lottery funding.

At the same time, Bafta announced changes in its membership process designed to increase the percentage of women and ethnic minorities, after an anonymous membership survey in January 2016 found that 41% were female, 13% minority ethnic, and that the median age was 52. In 2017, Bafta said these figures had changed to 43% and 18% respectively, with a median age of 44. More recent figures are not yet available, but the newest intake, in December 2018 – including actors such as Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Warwick Davis and Hayley Squires – appeared to continue the trend.

Anna Smith, chair of the London film critics circle and host of the Girls on Film podcast, is encouraged by the changes but dismayed by the Bafta voters’ failure to nominate a single woman in the best director category. “I think – and hope – that the general climate now is encouraging all Bafta members, new and old, to be more open to stories that don’t centre around a white male lead. But the lack of female directors nominated in the directing category is very disappointing.”

Smith adds: “The voting pool is so big that marketing budgets and high-profile stars are clearly going to have an impact, just as they do at the Oscars. It seems to me that often films by women, and black and Asian stories, don’t get the kind of publicity spend that others do.”

The nominations for the 2019 awards are dominated by major releases such as The Favourite, Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star Is Born. The lack of women in the best director categories – in the Oscars and Golden Globes as well as the Baftas – has been noted by influential industry analysts such as the Women’s Media Center, which specifically mentions the British director Lynne Ramsay as a “disappointing” omission from the awards circuit.

However, Ramsay’s thriller You Were Never Really Here has secured a nomination in one of the two categories specifically covered by Bafta’s new rules – best British film – alongside established awards-season presences The Favourite and Bohemian Rhapsody. Also included is McQueen, a documentary about the fashion designer Alexander McQueen – celebrated for his gay and working-class identity – as well as the indie thriller Beast.

The nominations in the other category covered by the diversity regulations, best British debut, are decided by a jury. They include Pili, a drama about Aids in Tanzania, while photographer Richard Billingham, well known for his pictures of his deprived background, has been nominated for his debut feature film Ray & Liz, about his parents. The documentary A Cambodian Spring, about locals battling developers in Phnom Penh, also gained a nomination for its director Chris Kelly.

The Rising Star award is also a showcase for Bafta’s diversity commitment: it was won on a popular vote in recent years by Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out) and John Boyega (Star Wars: The Force Awakens). This year sees Cynthia Erivo (Widows), Lakeith Stanfield (Sorry to Bother You) and Letitia Wright (Black Panther) put forward as potential winners. Jessie Buckley, the female lead of Beast, is also up for the award.

The Bafta film awards take place on 10 February at the Royal Albert Hall, London.