Here’s your cheatsheet to the 78th annual British Academy Film Awards.
The biggest night in British film always yields a spate of surprising nominees and winners, candid speeches and a generous dose of British eccentricity – I, personally, will never be able to scrub the memory of Nick Mohammed’s roller-skating “Mr Swallow” skit from my brain, nor forget the ingenious lyrics to Ariana DeBose’s infamous rap. (For her efforts, the Oscar- and BAFTA-winning star of West Side Story will always be My Woman King.)
So, what meme-worthy masterpiece will grace the stage at the 2025 BAFTAs? And which A-listers will climb up to the podium and make the most of their airtime, giving themselves a much-needed boost ahead of the Oscars? Here’s everything we know so far.
When are the BAFTAs 2025?
The 2025 BAFTAs will be held on Sunday 16 February.
Where will the BAFTAs 2025 be held?
After six years of being held at the Royal Albert Hall, the BAFTAs moved to a new home in 2023 – the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall – and that’s where it’ll remain for its latest edition.
Who will host the BAFTAs 2025?
David Tennant, who presided over the 2024 BAFTAs ceremony, will return to host in 2025, too.
When will the BAFTAs 2025 nominations be announced?
The longlist for the 2025 BAFTAs will be released on 3 January, after which voting will open, ahead of the nominations announcement on 15 January. Meanwhile, the nominees for the BAFTA EE Rising Star award will be revealed on 7 January.
Will there be any big changes at the BAFTAs in 2025?
Back in August, the organisation confirmed that the BAFTAs 2025 will feature at least one brand new category: Best Children’s and Family Film to “celebrate the very best films appealing to inter-generational audiences”. It marks the first new category to be introduced to the ceremony in five years, following the addition of the Best Casting prize in 2020.
Who will perform at the BAFTAs 2025?
Unlike the Oscars, the performances at the BAFTAs are significantly harder to predict, and range from Cirque du Soleil (once a mainstay) to the aforementioned “Angela Bassett did the thing” rap, and everything in between. Last year, none other than Sophie Ellis-Bextor took to the stage to perform “Murder on the Dancefloor” after it’d gone viral via Saltburn, after which Hannah Waddingham sang “Time After Time” during the In Memoriam segment. This year, literally anything could happen.
How long is the BAFTAs ceremony?
The ceremony is usually two hours long, with the broadcast beginning at 7pm and ending at 9pm.
How can I watch the BAFTAs 2025?
The BAFTAs 2025 ceremony will be broadcast on BBC One and available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Who will be nominated for a BAFTA in 2025?
British projects and talent do have something of an edge at the BAFTAs, so it’s possible that we’ll see films like Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths, Andrea Arnold’s Bird and Steve McQueen’s Blitz – releases which may not feature quite as prominently at the Academy Awards – getting more love here. The same goes for national treasures such as Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths), Kate Winslet (Lee), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked) and Daniel Craig (Queer), as well as exciting homegrown filmmakers including Rungano Nyoni (On Becoming a Guinea Fowl) and Sandhya Suri (Santosh).
Beyond that, expect the same names currently surging in the Oscar and Golden Globes races to dominate here, from Anora’s Mikey Madison in Best Actress and Conclave’s Ralph Fiennes in Best Actor, to Emilia Pérez’s Zoe Saldaña and The Brutalist’s Guy Pearce in the supporting categories.
