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By Emma Saundersentertainment reporter
fake imagesIt’s that time of year again: put on your party dress (Prada or Primark, we won’t judge), pop the champagne and prepare for a night of glitz and glamor as the stars compete for a coveted Bafta film award.
Here you will find everything you need to know before the ceremony.
What exactly are the Baftas?
Bafta, which stands for British Academy of Film and Television Arts, is an arts charity that champions UK talent on both the big and small screen. Its annual film awards ceremony is one of the UK’s most prestigious cultural events, honoring both local and international talent. The awards aren’t exactly the Oscars, but they’re definitely up there.
What films are in the race?
fake imagesChristopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, about the life of the man who helped develop the atomic bomb, leads the list with 13 nominations, including best picture, best actor (Cillian Murphy) and best supporting actress (Emily Blunt).
British-born filmmaker Nolan is the favorite to win the best director award. It’s hard to believe given his back catalogue, which includes Dunkirk, Inception and The Dark Knight Rises, but this will be his first Bafta win if he triumphs at the weekend.
If, as expected, Oppenheimer’s Robert Downey Jr takes the best supporting actor award, it will mark his second Bafta win, 31 years after he last won best actor in Chaplin in 1993.
Yorgos Lanthimos’s brilliantly bonkers Poor Things is hot on Oppenheimer’s heels, with 11 nods. Emma Stone is one of the favorites in the best actress race, although Lanthimos missed out on the director award.
Other films hoping for a successful evening include French courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall, nostalgic comedy-drama The Holdovers, Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, fantasy romance All of Us Strangers, black comedy thriller Saltburn and, of course, without forgetting the Barbie box office bulldozer.
Some film fans were left disappointed after Margot Robbie missed the cut for a best actress nomination at the Oscars, but the Barbie star has a chance (albeit a slim one) of winning the Baftas in the same category.
Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon has an impressive nine nominations, but both Scorsese and his female star, Lily Gladstone, are not on the shortlist for best director and actress. Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest also has nine nominations.
What else to pay attention to?
fake imagesEuphoria, Saltburn and Priscilla star Jacob Elordi is one of the favorites to pick up the Bafta Rising Star award for promising actors and is also nominated for best supporting actor in Saltburn. But he recently made headlines when he was accused of grabbing journalist’s neck in Sydney. She is not expected to attend on Sunday.
Emerald Fennell’s film was completely left out when the Oscar nominations were announced last month, so will the Baftas show more love for what has arguably already become a British cult classic?
Saltburn’s five nominations also include best actor (Barry Keoghan) and best supporting actress (Rosamund Pike).
It missed out on a best picture nomination, but it wasn’t the only one: with only five spots available, Barbie also missed the cut. Perhaps there is an argument for the Baftas to expand the number of nominated films, as the Oscars have done, to 10?
The Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for Color Purple for Danielle Brooks is replicated at the Baftas, but unlike the Academy, there is also room for the star of the musical adaptation, Fantasia Barrino, on the shortlist for best actress.
As for German star Sandra Huller, she’s just being greedy, come on. Not content with a best actress nomination for Anatomy of a Fall, she’s also nominated for best supporting actress for Jonathan Glazer’s chilling Nazi drama, The Zone of Interest. Seriously, she deserves both.
Elsewhere, Samantha Morton, who has enjoyed a successful television career on shows such as The Walking Dead and has starred in films such as Minority Report and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, received this year’s Bafta scholarship. She was previously nominated in 2020 for best supporting actress for the film Control.
It is the organization’s highest honorary award for contribution to cinema.
Fun (and downright geeky) fact: If either Barbie or Anatomy of a Fall win best screenplay, it will be a couple that takes home the award. Greta Gerwig wrote Barbie with her husband Noah Baumbach, while Justine Triet wrote Anatomy of a Fall with her partner Arthur Harari.
Which stars will attend?
fake imagesWhere to start? Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling will be among those flying the flag for Barbie, which has five nominations.
Maestro’s Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan, and Oppenheimer’s Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr. will be on the red carpet (not Murphy’s natural habitat).
Emma Stone of Poor Things, Colman Domingo of Rustin, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Paul Giamatti of The Holdovers and Paul Mescal of All of Us Strangers are expected to be there.
Saltburn’s Rosamund Pike and Sandra Huller, star of Anatomy of a Fall and Hotspot, are also among the big names attending.
We really hope Michael J Fox does too: Davis Guggenheim’s film Still: A Michael J Fox Movie is nominated for best documentary.
Prince William is the president of the Baftas and will attend the ceremony, but without his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, who is still recovering from abdominal surgery.
Who is the host?
fake imagesFormer Doctor Who star David Tennant will take over this year. While the Scottish actor certainly doesn’t lack a sense of humor, he won’t be slinging Ricky Gervais-style commentary at his A-list audience.
“We want to have an evening that is celebratory and doesn’t make people feel uncomfortable and doesn’t burn them in any way, so hopefully it will be an evening of generosity and joy,” he said.
It’s probably a good choice.
When Rebel Wilson made a joke about Will Smith’s marriage while hosting the show in 2022, King Richard star Smith wasn’t there. A few weeks later, at the Oscars, comedian Chris Rock joked about the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Smith. slapped him on stage. Oh.
Presenters include David Beckham, Dua Lipa, Bollywood star Deepika Padikone, Hugh Grant, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba, Gillian Anderson and Andrew Scott (who sadly missed out on the best actor award for All of Us Strangers).
Is there any performance?
fake imagesIn fact there are. Sophie Ellis Bextor will belt out her 2001 hit Murder on the Dancefloor, which she has enjoyed a revival after appearing in the infamous nude scene with Barry Keoghan at the end of Saltburn. She watches out for Barry in the audience, who will presumably stay in her seat instead of jumping up to get naked.
Hannah Waddingham, who approached national treasure status after co-host of Eurovision last yearwill also perform a musical number.
Any controversies to consider?
Bafta introduced reforms in 2020 to increase diversity. They included adding more voters with a focus on underrepresented groups.
There are six people of color in the acting categories for 2024. Last year there were nine, 40% of the acting shortlist spots.
But that didn’t translate into victories, as nearly all of the winners in every category were white. So it will be interesting to see if last year was an anomaly.
There are no women in several categories, including adapted screenplay, cinematography, original music and sound.
But four out of five nominees for best British debut are women and all the nominees in the best casting category are women.
british interest
Inevitably, the BRITISH Film and Television Academy focuses more on local talent than the Academy across the pond. Notable British film hopefuls include the delightful Wonka, Saltburn, The Zone of Interest, Ridley Scott’s epic Napoleon, Molly Manning Walker’s surprising debut How To Have Sex, and the warm and wonderful south London romantic comedy , Rye Lane.
Manning Walker’s darling film is also nominated for the award for best debut by a British writer and producer and has a good chance of winning.
how to look
The Bafta Film Awards 2024 will take place on February 18 at the Royal Festival Hall at London’s Southbank Centre. You can watch all the action on BBC One and BBC iPlayer between 19:00 GMT and 21:00 GMT, although there is a one-hour delay between the live event and the broadcast. International audiences can watch it via streaming services including Britbox International.
Read more about the films in this year’s awards race:
