Everything you need to know before the Bafta Film Awards

Mikey Madison attends the Virtuosos Award ceremony during the 40th annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival at The Arlington Theatre on February 09, 2025 in Santa Barbara, California. She has her dark hair swept up and is wearing red.Getty Images

Anora, starring Mikey Madison, is the current best picture frontrunner after a string of recent precursor wins

Steven McIntosh
Entertainment reporter

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.

It strengthened its frontrunner status on Saturday, winning the original screenplay prize at the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Awards.

Ralph Fiennes at the 30th Annual Critics Choice Awards held at The Barker Hangar on February 7, 2025 in Santa Monica, California. He is holding aloft the silver award and he is wearing a navy suit, white shirt and blue and white polka dot tie.Getty Images

Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, won best acting ensemble at last week's Critics Choice 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:

  • 12 nominations - Conclave

  • 11 - Emilia Pérez

  • 9 - The Brutalist

  • 7 - Anora, Dune: Part Two, Wicked

  • 6 - A Complete Unknown, Kneecap

  • 5 - Nosferatu, The Substance

BBC News live page: Bafta film awards 2025

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.

(L-R) Howard Donald, Gary Barlow and Mark Owen of Take That perform onstage at Take That's "Greatest Days" World Premiere at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on June 15, 2023 in London, EnglandGetty Images

During the ceremony, Take That will perform Greatest Day, which features prominently in best picture frontrunner Anora

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

Marianne Jean-Baptiste attends the Hard Truths Headline Gala during the 68th BFI London Film Festival at The Royal Festival Hall on October 14, 2024 in London, England. She has short black hair and is smiling. She is waring a grey jacket.Getty Images

Hard Truths star Marianne Jean-Baptiste is among the British stars in the running at Bafta

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. She would be the first black Bafta winner of best actress.

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

Adrien Brody and Demi Moore attend the 77th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards at The Beverly Hilton on February 08, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California.Getty Images

Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) and Demi Moore (The Substance) are the two current frontrunners in the lead acting categories

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:

  • Anora - A New York stripper has a whirlwind romance with the son of a Russian oligarch after meeting at the club where she works.

  • The Apprentice - A young Donald Trump begins to make his name as a real estate tycoon in New York.

  • The Brutalist - Following World War Two, a Hungarian Jewish architect moves to the US and is taken under the wing of a powerful businessman.

  • A Complete Unknown - Bob Dylan rises to fame in the 1960s, but becomes torn between rock'n'roll and his folk music roots.

  • Conclave - A group of gossipy, scheming cardinals gather in Rome to select a new Pope.

  • Dune: Part Two - Paul Atreides unites with the Fremen people of the desert planet Arrakis to wage war against House Harkonnen.

  • Emilia Pérez - A dangerous Mexican drug lord decides to leave the world of crime and live a new life as a woman.

  • I'm Still Here - Under the military dictatorship of 1970s Brazil, a woman investigates after her congressman husband disappears.

  • Nickel Boys - Two young men are abused at a reform school called the Nickel Academy in 1960s Florida.

  • A Real Pain - Two bickering cousins travel across Poland in remembrance of their grandmother.

  • Sing Sing - A group of inmates in a high-security prison sign up for a performing arts programme.

  • The Substance - A TV aerobics presenter in her fifties takes a black-market drug in order to create a younger, more beautiful version of herself.

  • Wicked - The story of how The Wizard of Oz character Elphaba was ostracised in her school years, ultimately leading her to become the Wicked Witch of the West.

British film recognition

Nykiya Adams and Barry Keoghan at the Variety TIFF Studio during the Toronto International Film Festival 2024 on September 7, 2024 in Toronto, CanadaGetty Images

Nykiya Adams and Barry Keoghan star in Andrea Arnold's fantastical Bird, which is up for outstanding British film

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.

Read more about this year's awards season films:

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