The British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) are set to take place on Sunday, with politically charged thriller ‘One Battle After Another’ and action-horror ‘Sinners’ leading the race for top honours. Both films are battling for awards-season supremacy as the ceremony draws global attention.
Oddsmakers suggest Shakespearean family drama ‘Hamnet’ could upset the frontrunners, with its emotionally rich storytelling, evocative English setting and standout performances in Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s historical novel.
One Battle After Another leads the BAFTA nominations with 14 nods, including best film and acting nominations for five cast members. Sinners follows closely with 13 nominations, while Hamnet and the ping-pong odyssey ‘Marty Supreme’ each received 11. Guillermo del Toro’s reimagining of ‘Frankenstein’ and Norwegian family drama ‘Sentimental Value’ received eight nominations each.
The BAFTAs, officially called the EE British Academy Film Awards, often hint at potential Oscar winners. At the Academy Awards, held this year on March 15 , Sinners leads with 16 nominations, followed by One Battle After Another with 13.
Stars expected on the red carpet outside London’s Royal Festival Hall include Emma Stone, Cillian Murphy, Glenn Close and Ethan Hawke. The black-tie ceremony will be hosted by Scottish actor Alan Cumming, known for presenting the US reality show ‘The Traitors’. Cumming promised to strike a balance between celebration and mischief during the evening.
The nominees for best film are One Battle After Another, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, Sinners and Sentimental Value. The BAFTAs also feature a separate category for best British film, with 10 contenders including ‘The Ballad of Wallis Island’, ‘Pillion’, ‘I Swear’ and ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy’.
Directing nominees are Paul Thomas Anderson for One Battle After Another, Josh Safdie for Marty Supreme, Ryan Coogler for Sinners, Yorgos Lanthimos for dystopian tragicomedy Bugonia, Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value and Chloé Zhao for Hamnet. A win would make Zhao the first female director to take home two BAFTAs, having previously won in 2021 for Nomadland.
Leading actor nominees include bookies’ favourite Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme, Leonardo DiCaprio for One Battle After Another, Ethan Hawke for Broadway biopic ‘Blue Moon’, Michael B. Jordan for Sinners, Jesse Plemons for ‘Bugonia’ and Robert Aramayo for ‘I Swear’.
The leading actress category features Jessie Buckley as the favourite for her portrayal of Agnes Hathaway, William Shakespeare’s wife, in Hamnet. She competes against Rose Byrne in ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’, Kate Hudson in ‘Song Sung Blue’, Chase Infiniti in One Battle After Another, Renate Reinsve in Sentimental Value and Emma Stone in Bugonia.
Supporting nominations for One Battle After Another include Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn. The Associated Press received a nod in the best documentary category for Mstyslav Chernov’s harrowing Ukraine war portrait ‘2000 Meters to Andriivka’, co-produced with PBS’s Frontline.
Most winners are chosen by the 8,500 members of the UK Academy of Film and Television Arts. The Rising Star award, the only prize decided by public vote and known for predicting future stars, includes nominees ‘Infiniti’, ‘Aramayo’, Sinners star Miles Caton and British actors Archie Madekwe and Posy Sterling.
The BAFTA fellowship, the Academy’s highest honour, will be awarded to Donna Langley, the UK-born chairwoman of NBCUniversal Entertainment.
