BAFTA Film Awards nominations: ‘Conclave’ and ‘Emilia Pérez’ lead the race

The BAFTA Film Awards nominations have been announced and it’s a diverse bunch highlighting once more how this year’s award season remains more unpredictable than usual.

Several films are gaining momentum concurrently and there still doesn’t seem to be a clear frontrunner. Still, that lack of clarity does mean there’s diversity.

Edward Berger’s Papal thriller Conclave and Jacques Audiard’s audacious musical Emilia Pérez lead this year’s nominations, with 12 and 11 noms respectively. They’ll both be competing for the top gong, Best Film, as well as in the Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress categories.

Behind Conclave and Emilia Pérez are Brady Corbet’s American epic The Brutalist, which won Best Film (Drama) at the Golden Globes and landed nine BAFTA nominations, followed by seven for Palme d’Or winner Anora, sci-fi epic Dune: Part Two and everyone’s favourite musical (apart from Emilia Pérez, obviously)Wicked.

The Timothée Chalamet-led Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown and the wonderful Irish-language hip-hop biopic Kneecap both scored six nominations.

Among some of the surprises this year are Wicked being locked out of Best Film; no love for Denzel Washington, who was not nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Gladiator II and who has yet to be nominated for a single BAFTA during his illustrious career; and no love for Babygirl or Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers and Queer. Many expected Nicole Kidman (Babygirl) and Daniel Craig (Queer) to make the cut in the acting categories, but it wasn’t to be.

On a more positive front, Ali Abassi’s Donald Trump biopic The Apprentice did score two main nominations in the acting categories for Jeremy Strong (Best Supporting Actor) and Sebastian Stan (Best Actor). Stan recently won the Golden Globe for Best Actor for A Different Man – which was not nominated for the BAFTAs.

Elsewhere, Kneecap continues to impress and hold its ground versus some other major Hollywood heavyweights, becoming the little indie that could; and Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance has made Fargeat the only female director in contention this year. Sadly, Payal Kapadia does not join her for her excellent work in All We Imagine As Light.

Check out our interview with Kneecap director Rich Peppiatt and our interview with The Substance director Coralie Fargeat.

The BAFTA Film Awards ceremony will take place on 16 February from London’s Royal Festival Hall with David Tennant returning as host.

Here is the full list of the 2025 nominees: 

BEST FILM  

• Anora 
• The Brutalist
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Emilia Pérez

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM  

• Bird
• Blitz
• Conclave 
• Gladiator II
• Hard Truths  
• Kneecap 
• Lee
• Love Lies Bleeding 
• The Outrun 
• Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER  

• Hoard
• Kneecap
• Monkey Man
• Santosh
• Sister Midnight

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE  

DOCUMENTARY  

• Black Box Diaries
• Daughters
• No Other Land
• Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
• Will & Harper

ANIMATED FILM  

• Flow 
• Inside Out 2
• Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
• The Wild Robot

CHILDREN’S & FAMILY FILM  

• Flow
• Kensuke’s Kingdom
• Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
• The Wild Robot

DIRECTOR  

• Anora — Sean Baker  
• The Brutalist — Brady Corbet  
• Conclave — Edward Berger  
• Dune: Part Two — Denis Villeneuve  
• Emilia Pérez — Jacques Audiard  
• The Substance — Coralie Fargeat

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY  

• Anora
• The Brutalist
• Kneecap 
• A Real Pain
• The Substance

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY  

• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave 
• Emilia Pérez  
• Nickel Boys
• Sing Sing

LEADING ACTRESS  

• Cynthia Erivo, Wicked 
• Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
• Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths 
• Mikey Madison, Anora
• Demi Moore, The Substance
• Saoirse Ronan, The Outrun

LEADING ACTOR  

• Adrien Brody, The Brutalist  
• Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
• Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
• Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
• Hugh Grant, Heretic
• Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

SUPPORTING ACTRESS  

• Selena Gomez, Emilia Pérez  
• Ariana Grande, Wicked
• Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
• Jamie Lee Curtis, The Last Showgirl
• Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
• Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

SUPPORTING ACTOR  

• Yura Borisov, Anora 
• Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
• Clarence Maclin, Sing Sing
• Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
• Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
• Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

CASTING  

• Anora  
• The Apprentice
• A Complete Unknown  
• Conclave
• Kneecap

CINEMATOGRAPHY  

• The Brutalist 
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Nosferatu

EDITING  

• Anora 
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Kneecap

COSTUME DESIGN  

• Blitz
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Nosferatu 
• Wicked

MAKE UP & HAIR  

• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Nosferatu
• The Substance
• Wicked

ORIGINAL SCORE  

• The Brutalist
• Conclave
• Emilia Pérez 
• Nosferatu
• The Wild Robot

PRODUCTION DESIGN  

• The Brutalist
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Nosferatu
• Wicked

SOUND  

• Blitz 
• Dune: Part Two
• Gladiator II  
• The Substance
• Wicked

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS  

• Better Man 
• Dune: Part Two
• Gladiator II
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• Wicked

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION  

• Adiós
• Mog’s Christmas
• Wander to Wonder

BRITISH SHORT FILM  

• The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing
• Marion
• Milk  
• Rock, Paper, Scissors
• Stomach Bug

EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)  

• Marisa Abela  
• Jharrel Jerome  
• David Jonsson  
• Mikey Madison  
• Nabhaan Rizwan