And the BAFTA goes to… Those words are once again the focus in London Sunday night at the 79th BAFTA Film Awards ceremony, hosted by Alan Cumming, the presenter and producer of The Traitors U.S., at London’s Royal Festival Hall.
The BAFTA nominations set up a thrill ride for the British Academy honors, with Paul Thomas Anderson’s political thriller One Battle After Another earning 14 nods, narrowly edging out Ryan Coogler’s vampire film Sinners with 13, and Chloé Zhao’s Shakespearean heartbreaker Hamnet and Josh Safdie’s ping-pong caper Marty Supreme getting 11 nods each.
Other top BAFTA nominees include Joachim Trier’s drama Sentimental Value and Guillermo del Toro’s gothic epic Frankenstein, which earned eight BAFTA noms each, and Yorgos Lanthimos’ black comedy Bugonia and Kirk Jones’ Tourette Syndrome advocate dramedy I Swear with five each.
First-time BAFTA nominees in the performance categories included Robert Aramayo, Odessa A’zion, Rose Byrne, Chase Infiniti, Michael B. Jordan, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Stellan Skarsgård, and Teyana Taylor.
The best supporting acting honors on Sunday went to Wunmi Mosaku for Sinners and Sean Penn for One Battle After Another.
Among BAFTA nomination records are Zhao’s Hamnet as the most-nominated film by a female director ever, and Coogler’s Sinners as the most-nominated film by a Black director in the British Academy’s history.
At the BAFTA Film Awards 2025, Conclave (best film) and The Brutalist (best director and actor) won four honors each.
BAFTA chair Sara Putt opened the festivities Sunday night, lauding this year’s nominees and thanking them for providing audiences with “windows into other worlds and sometimes, yes, a respite from this one.” And she touted the excellence they have shown, “no algorithms involved.”
A pre-recorded sketch, starring Cumming discussing marketing ideas for the BAFTAs on a video call with Brian Cox, Warwick Davis, Ken Jeong, Jacobi Jupe, Hannah Waddingham, dog LaLa, a muted and video-less Leo DiCaprio and Paddington Bear then opened the entertainment portion of the night.
In his opening monologue, Cumming ran through the topics covered by this year’s nominees. “Whatever happened to escapism? I’m exhausted,” he concluded. “It’s almost as though, I don’t know, there are events going on in the real world that are influencing filmmakers. Anyone else, like you Americans in particular?” Cumming then invited everyone in attendance to join him in a collective primal scream at world events.
Director David Borenstein accepted the honor for best documentary for his Mr. Nobody Against Putin with another U.S. reference, saying: “No matter how dark things get, whether in Russia or on the streets of Minneapolis, we always face a moral choice.”
Among other political comments during Sunday’s ceremony, My Father’s Shadow director Akinola Davies Jr., who won the Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer honor with his writer and brother Wale Davies, ended his acceptance speech with the words, “Free Palestine!”
Also on Sunday, Clare Binns, the creative director of Picturehouse Cinemas and Picturehouse Entertainment and “a driving force in the distribution of films in the U.K.,” was honored with the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award at the ceremony. The world needs more neighborhood cinemas, she told the BAFTA crowd. And she lauded the late Robert Redstone for founding the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival, saying: “He knew that above all, we should be prepared to take risks.”
Follow who wins the 2026 BAFTA honors in London as THR is continuously updating the winners throughout the U.K. evening. The winners are highlighted in bold in all announced categories.
Outstanding British Film
28 YEARS LATER Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice, Bernard Bellew, Alex Garland
THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND James Griffiths, Rupert Majendie, Tom Basden, Tim Key
BRIDGET JONES: MAD ABOUT THE BOY Michael Morris, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Jo Wallett, Helen Fielding, Dan Mazer, Abi Morgan
DIE MY LOVE Lynne Ramsay, Martin Scorsese, Jennifer Lawrence, Justine Cirrocchi, Andrea Calderwood, Enda Walsh, Alice Birch
H IS FOR HAWK Philippa Lowthorpe, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Emma Donoghue
HAMNET Chloé Zhao, Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Gonda, Steven Speilberg, Sam Mendes, Maggie O’Farrell
I SWEAR Kirk Jones, Georgia Bayliff, Piers Tempest
MR BURTON Marc Evans, Ed Talfan, Josh Hyams, Hannah Thomas, Trevor Matthews, Tom Bullough
PILLION Harry Lighton, Emma Norton, Lee Groombridge, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe
STEVE Tim Mielants, Alan Moloney, Cillian Murphy, Max Porter
Film Not in the English Language
IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT Jafar Panahi, Philippe Martin
THE SECRET AGENT Kleber Mendonça Filho, Emilie Lesclaux
SENTIMENTAL VALUE Joachim Trier, Maria Ekerhovd, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar
SIRĀT Oliver Laxe, Domingo Corral
THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB Kaouther Ben Hania, Nadim Cheikhrouha
Costume Design
FRANKENSTEIN Kate Hawley
HAMNET Malgosia Turzanska
MARTY SUPREME Miyako Bellizzi
SINNERS Ruth E. Carter
WICKED: FOR GOOD Paul Tazewell
Adapted Screenplay
THE BALLAD OF WALLIS ISLAND Tom Basden, Tim Key
BUGONIA Will Tracy
HAMNET Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Paul Thomas Anderson
PILLION Harry Lighton
Original Score
BUGONIA Jerskin Fendrix
FRANKENSTEIN Alexandre Desplat
HAMNET Max Richter
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Jonny Greenwood
SINNERS Ludwig Göransson
Sound
F1 Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo, Juan Peralta
FRANKENSTEIN Greg Chapman, Nathan Robitallie, Nelson Ferreira, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoem
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Jose Antonio Garcia, Christopher Scarabosio, Tony Villaflor
SINNERS Chris Welcker, Benny Burtt, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker, Felipe Pacheco
WARFARE Glenn Freemantle, Mitch Low, Ben Barker, Howard Bargroff, Richard Spooner
Cinematography
FRANKENSTEIN Dan Laustsen
MARTY SUPREME Darius Khondji
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Michael Bauman
SINNERS Autumn Durald Arkapaw
TRAIN DREAMS Adolpho Veloso
Animated Film
ELIO Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina, Mary Alice Drumm
LITTLE AMÉLIE Mailys Vallade, Liane-Cho Han, Nidia Santiago, Edwina Liard, Claire Le Combe, Henri Magalon
ZOOTROPOLIS 2 Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino
Editing
F1 Stephen Mirrione
A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE Kirk Baxter
MARTY SUPREME Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Andy Jurgensen
SINNERS Michael P. Shawver
Casting
I SWEAR Lauren Evans
MARTY SUPREME Jennifer Venditti
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Cassandra Kulukundis
SENTIMENTAL VALUE Yngvill Kolset Haga, Avy Kaufman
SINNERS Francine Maisler
Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
THE CEREMONY Jack King (Director, Writer), Hollie Bryan (Producer), Lucy Meer (Producer)
MY FATHER’S SHADOW Akinola Davies Jr. (Director), Wale Davies (Writer)
PILLION Harry Lighton (Director, Writer)
A WANT IN HER Myrid Carten (Director)
WASTEMAN Cal McMau (Director), Hunter Andrews (Writer), Eoin Doran (Writer)
Original Screenplay
I SWEAR Kirk Jones
MARTY SUPREME Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie
THE SECRET AGENT Kleber Mendonça Filho
SENTIMENTAL VALUE Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier
SINNERS Ryan Coogler
British Short Animation
CARDBOARD J.P. Vine, Michaela Manas Malina
SOLSTICE Luke Angus
TWO BLACK BOYS IN PARADISE Baz Sells, Dean Atta, Ben Jackson
British Short Film
MAGID / ZAFAR Luis Hindman, Sufiyaan Salam, Aidan Robert Brooks
NOSTALGIE Kathryn Ferguson, Stacey Gregg, Marc Robinson, Kath Mattock
TERENCE Edem Kelman, Noah Reich
THIS IS ENDOMETRIOSIS Georgie Wileman, Matt Houghton, Harriette Wright
WELCOME HOME FRECKLES Huiju Park, Nathan Hendren
Documentary
2000 METERS TO ANDRIIVKA Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson-Rath
APOCALYPSE IN THE TROPICS Petra Costa, Alessandra Orofino
COVER-UP Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, Olivia Streisand, Yoni Golijev
MR. NOBODY AGAINST PUTIN David Borenstein, Helle Faber, Radovan Síbrt, Alžběta Karásková
THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR Geeta Gandbhir, Alisa Payne, Nikon Kwantu, Sam Bisbee
Make-up & Hair
FRANKENSTEIN Jordan Samuel, Cliona Furey, Mike Hill, Megan Many
HAMNET Nicole Stafford
MARTY SUPREME Kyra Panchenko, Kay Georgiou, Mike Fontaine
SINNERS Siân Richards, Shunika Terry, Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine
WICKED: FOR GOOD Frances Hannon, Laura Blount, Mark Coulier, Sarah Nuth
Production Design
FRANKENSTEIN Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau
HAMNET Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton
MARTY SUPREME Jack Fisk, Adam Willis
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino
SINNERS Hannah Beachler, Monique Champagne
Children’s & Family Film
ARCO Ugo Bienvenu, Félix De Givry, Sophie Mas, Natalie Portman
BOONG Lakshmipriya Devi, Ritesh Sidhwani
LILO & STITCH Dean Fleischer Camp, Jonathan Eirich
ZOOTROPOLIS 2 Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino
Supporting Actor
BENICIO DEL TORO One Battle After Another
JACOB ELORDI Frankenstein
PAUL MESCAL Hamnet
PETER MULLAN I Swear
SEAN PENN One Battle After Another
STELLAN SKARSGÅRD Sentimental Value
Supporting Actress
ODESSA A’ZION Marty Supreme
INGA IBSDOTTER LILLEAAS Sentimental Value
WUNMI MOSAKU Sinners
CAREY MULLIGAN The Ballad of Wallis Island
TEYANA TAYLOR One Battle After Another
EMILY WATSON Hamnet
Special Visual Effects
AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Daniel Barrett, Eric Saindon
F1 Ryan Tudhope, Keith Alfred Dawson, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington
FRANKENSTEIN Dennis Berardi, Ayo Burgess, Ivan Busquets, José Granell
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON Christian Mänz, Francois Lambert, Glen McIntosh, Terry Palmer
THE LOST BUS Charlie Noble, Brandon K. McLaughlin, David Zaretti
Best Film
HAMNET Liza Marshall, Pippa Harris, Nicolas Gonda, Steven Spielberg, Sam Mendes
MARTY SUPREME Timothée Chalamet, Anthony Katagas, Eli Bush, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Adam Somner, Sara Murphy, Paul Thomas Anderson
SENTIMENTAL VALUE Maria Ekerhovd, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar
SINNERS Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, Ryan Coogler
Director
BUGONIA Yorgos Lanthimos
HAMNET Chloé Zhao
MARTY SUPREME Josh Safdie
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER Paul Thomas Anderson
SENTIMENTAL VALUE Joachim Trier
SINNERS Ryan Coogler
Leading Actress
JESSIE BUCKLEY Hamnet
ROSE BYRNE If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
KATE HUDSON Song Sung Blue
CHASE INFINITI One Battle After Another
RENATE REINSVE Sentimental Value
EMMA STONE Bugonia
Leading Actor
ROBERT ARAMAYO I Swear
TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET Marty Supreme
LEONARDO DICAPRIO One Battle After Another
ETHAN HAWKE Blue Moon
MICHAEL B. JORDAN Sinners
JESSE PLEMONS Bugonia
EE Rising Star Award (voted for by the public)
Robert Aramayo
Miles Caton
Chase Infiniti
Archie Madekwe
Posy Sterling