Everything you need to know before the Bafta Film Awards
Hollywood stars are in London for the Bafta Film Awards, as an unpredictable awards season finally begins to take shape.
Pope selection drama Conclave leads the Bafta field with 12 nominations, including best film and best actor for its British star Ralph Fiennes.
Spanish-language musical Emilia Pérez has 11 nominations, but recently saw its awards chances damaged after offensive historic tweets from its star resurfaced.
The ceremony, hosted by David Tennant at London’s Royal Festival Hall, will be broadcast on BBC One from 19:00 GMT.
For months, there has been no consensus on what will ultimately win best picture at the Oscars on 2 March, with as many as six films having a possible path to victory.
The race narrowed last week, however, when Cannes Film Festival winner Anora, about a New York stripper who falls for the son of a wealthy Russian, leapt ahead after a string of precursor wins.
The film took the top prizes at the Critics Choice Awards (CCA) as well as two major guild ceremonies considered key Oscars indicators – the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and Producers Guild of America (PGA) Awards.
The winners at the Baftas could be the strongest indication yet of who will triumph at the Oscars. Last year, the winners of the top six categories matched up perfectly between the two ceremonies.
The films with the most Bafta nominations:
Baftas 2025: The nominations list in full
How to watch the Bafta and Oscar-nominated films
The Bafta Film Awards ceremony starts at 17:00 GMT, two hours before its broadcast begins on BBC One, which means winners will be reported in the news and on social media before being seen on television.
One major difference this year is that the nominating juries which were introduced after a diversity scandal in 2020 have been phased out of most categories, which means the nominees have been entirely determined by Bafta members.
During the ceremony, Take That will perform their 2008 single Greatest Day, which features prominently in Anora.
Elsewhere, Wicked star Jeff Goldblum will play the piano during the In Memoriam section, which pays tribute to the film industry figures who have died in the last year.
Pamela Anderson, Anna Kendrick, Camila Cabello, Joe Alwyn, Celia Imrie, James Norton, Selena Gomez, Jesse Eisenberg, Naomi Ackie and Tom Felton are among the stars who will present prizes during the ceremony.
Actor and TV presenter Warwick Davis will be awarded the Bafta Fellowship, the highest honour bestowed by the British Academy.
Brit pack
The current acting frontrunners in the Oscars race are Demi Moore (The Substance), Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez) and Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain).
It’s possible all four could also triumph in their respective categories at the Baftas – but their wins here are far from guaranteed.
Although the Baftas are usually an Oscars bellwether, the British Academy also occasionally goes its own way, and takes the opportunity to reward a home-grown star on their own soil.
For example, Rachel Weisz, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan and Joanna Scanlan are among the Irish and British actors who have won at Bafta in recent years and not gone on to win the Oscar (Scanlan was not nominated).
This year, British star Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths) is a strong contender for the best leading actress Bafta despite not making it into the same category at the Academy Awards.
Other British and Irish acting nominees this year include Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), Felicity Jones (The Brutalist), Hugh Grant (Heretic), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked) and Saoirse Ronan (The Outrun).
Meanwhile, Selena Gomez (Emilia Pérez), Ariana Grande (Wicked), Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice), Timothée Chalamet and Edward Norton (both for A Complete Unknown) are among the other Hollywood stars in the race.
Awards films: A cheat sheet
By now, you’re probably familiar with the main films in the acting and best picture races, following their success at other film awards events such as the Golden Globes.
But just in case you’re joining us for the first time and keen to catch up on the major movies, here’s a quick cheat sheet with each contender’s plot summarised in one sentence:
British film recognition
Most of the major categories at the Baftas are the same as other awards events, but the British Academy has additional awards specifically intended to recognise British talent.
That means there are some film nominated for Baftas which are not in the Oscars race, particularly in the outstanding British film category.
They include the superb Bird, about a young girl growing up on a tough housing estate, and Mike Leigh’s terrific Hard Truths, about a woman whose depression puts severe strain on those around her.
Other nominees in the category include Lee, about war photojournalist Lee Miller, Kneecap, about a hip-hop group who rap in the Irish language, and the excellent Love Lies Bleeding, about a gym manager who falls for a driven but dangerous bodybuilder.
World War Two drama Blitz, which follows a young boy who makes his way back to London after the city is evacuated, is also nominated, alongside The Outrun, about a young recovering alcoholic who returns to Orkney.
The category is rounded out by Oscars contender Conclave, box office hit Gladiator II, and animated favourite Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.
Meanwhile, the Bafta nominees for outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer are Hoard, Kneecap, Monkey Man, Santosh and Sister Midnight.
There is a brand new category this year too – best children’s and family film – which sees Wallace and Gromit nominated alongside Flow, Kensuke’s Kingdom and The Wild Robot.
