The EE BAFTA Film Awards are about to kick off here at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London. The ceremony is on a delay and won’t air for another two hours, but Deadline is in the house, so join us as we follow the proceedings in the liveblog below.
David Tennant returns to host the BAFTAs in a sophomore turn, while there will also be performances by Take That (with “Greatest Day” from Anora) and Jeff Goldblum, who will play the piano during the In Memoriam portion of the program.
Coming into the evening, Edward Berger’s Conclave (released by Black Bear in the UK) is the leading nominee with 12 mentions, followed by Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez (Netflix) with 11 and Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist (UPI) at nine. Also high up with nominations are Sean Baker’s Anora (7), Universal’s Wicked (7) and Searchlight’s Timothée Chalamet-starrer A Complete Unknown (6).
U.S. awards bodies have recently shown great affection for Anora (which Neon has domestically and Universal reps in the UK), but many agree the BAFTA race is for the most part wide open.
Recall that in 2023, the top eight prizes awarded by BAFTA were not repeated at the Oscars; notably with Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front taking the main gong in London and Everything Everywhere All at Once later triumphant in Hollywood.
We’ll know more in just a little while, as well as how the recent controversy surrounding Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón may have affected the film’s prospects with the British Academy. Gascón is not expected to attend this evening, but her co-stars and Supporting Actress nominees, Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez, are due in the audience and to present a prize.
Other nominees expected to attend include Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo for Wicked, Adrien Brody for The Brutalist, Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong for The Apprentice and Colman Domingo for Sing Sing among many other notable names.
Guest presenters will include Mark Hamill, who could play a role in giving Star Wars co-star Warwick Davis his BAFTA Fellowship. Pamela Anderson and Lupita Nyong’o will also hand out awards.
Stick with us for the liveblog below
