If you are still inexplicably hanging around reading a liveblog of an awards ceremony that has already been over for two hours at this point, I have good news! Here’s a red carpet gallery! You will have your favourite photograph of the night. Mine is the one of Ayo Edebiri standing in what I’m pretty sure is the exact same stairwell that my six-year-old had a meltdown in just before going to see the Bluey play a couple of months ago.
I wonder what the solution is to the Baftas. The two-hour non-live approach clearly isn’t working, because anyone (by which I mean me) could just go on the BBC website and see who all the winners are before the show had even started. And doing it live won’t work either, because everyone would lose their minds about it bumping Countryfile out of the way. I’m genuinely stumped. Would it work best as a YouTube livestream? An emailed press release? Just two hours of Andy Serkis shouting the names of the winners into a bin? Honestly, I’m all out of ideas.
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Extremely hot off the press, here’s Peter Bradshaw’s take on the night’s winners.
And now a final montage of everything that has happened over the last two hours, which from a television standpoint was absolutely nothing. Nothing very funny happened. Nothing very shocking. No major upsets. No Ariana DeBose, which in retrospect I am quite sad about. The whole thing just sort of sat there, flat and featureless, and then stopped. Think of all the other things we could have just done with the last two hours of our lives. The fun we could have had. The friends we could have made. But oh no. We spent it watching the Baftas. Lucky us.
OPPENHEIMER WINS BEST FILM
Just as it is very likely to win all the Oscars. Still, it gives Emma Thomas a chance to get some of the limelight for once, which is extremely well-deserved for such a power player. She schoolmarms the entire cast and crew up to the stage, and many of them stay sitting down. And then she thanks her 16-year-old son, and that’s it. Thats the end of the awards.
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Michael J Fox is here to present best film. Not just a standing ovation, but wild, untamed applause. He’s been greeted like such a hero that he will almost certainly outshine the actual winner.
EMMA STONE WINS BEST ACTRESS
Poor Things has won a number of smaller (read: edited out) awards tonight, but this is the most high-profile. She thanks her dialect coach, and Tony McNamara for writing that line about how much she wants to punch a baby. And her mum. One more award to go! Nothing actually seems to have happened in the last two hours, does it?
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And now Idris Elba is here, to present best actress and order all the famous people to applaud themselves, which is very nice of him.
CILLIAN MURPHY WINS BEST ACTOR
Very sour reactions from his fellow nominees Barry Keoghan (who looked like he wanted to punch him) and Bradley Cooper (who looked like he wanted to trash the whole place), but Cillian Murphy rises to the occasion nonetheless. He’s happy to play someone complex and he loves his family, plus he says ‘Oppenhomies’ to keep the internet happy.
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More Less Important Awards now. The Zone of Interest wins something. Poor Things wins something. A film about Jellyfish wins something. A film about crabs wins something. Poor Things wins something else. Poor Things wins something else. And with all this hard work booted out of the way, it’s time for the last three awards of the night.
MIA MCKENNA-BRUCE WINS THE EE RISING STAR AWARD
And this is a decent result, because this was a weirdly unbalanced category, with many of the nominees having already quite visibly risen. But McKenna-Bruce is an incredibly good choice.
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Morton takes the stage to a standing ovation, overwhelmed. The award is a miracle, she says. Kes changed her life, because it showed her poverty onscreen. She thanks casting directors, and Nottingham, and her family, and dedicates her award to children in care. What a beautiful, heartfelt speech.
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Samantha Morton is now being given the Bafta fellowship. Tom Cruise is doing a video about how brilliant she was in Minority Report. Susan Lynch, too, but not specifically about Minority Report. And Molly Windsor. And Daniel Mays. And then Tom Cruise again. Hope this helps.
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We’re now being treated to the Less Important Awards. The Zone of Interest wins something, The Holdovers wins something. Oppenheimer wins something. Oppenheimer wins something else. 20 Days in Mariupol wins something. Oppenheimer wins something else. I don’t know whether this was a deliberate choice on the part of the BBC to chop down all the acceptance speeches that actually had something interesting to say about the world. But, hey, at least this gave us loads of room up top for all those dog puns.
CHRISTOPHER NOLAN WINS BEST DIRECTOR
The overwhelming Oscar frontrunner wins a Bafta. Nolan reveals that his brother played a snowflake at the Southbank Centre 40 years ago, and then makes a point of speaking out for nuclear disarmament. Funny AND terrifying. What a guy.
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Hugh Grant is here to present best director. He’s making up a satirical film industry poem about Oompa Loompas, and looking like he absolutely hates every second of it. Can we get him to host next year, please?
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THE ZONE OF INTEREST WINS OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
Polite applause and minor whooping greet Jonathan Glazer and James Wilson. Wilson thanks everyone, and explains what a global project this was. Glazer mumbles ‘thanks’ and leaves.
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Anyway, here’s the outstanding British film award, presented by Dua Lipa. If you’re counting, that’s now two awards that have been presented by the cast of Argylle. Wow, the Baftas really bloody love Argylle, don’t they?
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JUNE GIVANNI WINS OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA
And this is very nice. She isn’t a household name by any means, but as the founder of the June Givanni Pan African Cinema Archive, the importance of her work speaks volumes. She gets a standing ovation from the crowd and, despite an audibly sore throat, gives the most regal acceptance speech of the night so far. She talks about the pioneering filmmakers who informed the archive, the staff and volunteers who operate the archive, and her family. Lovely.
Hannah Waddingham is here now, to sing Time After Time to this year’s In Memoriam montage. It’s touching and tender, but wow the Baftas really bloody love Ted Lasso don’t they?
Well, this is confusing. Nick Mohammed is here in a glittering tuxedo, on rollerskates, as a motivational speaker called Mr Swallows. He isn’t doing any motivational speaking, but he is reading out fire safety procedures. It’s an extremely weird thing to insert into the halfway point of an awards ceremony, but it isn’t Ariana DeBose rapping about Jamie Lee Curtis. Small mercies.
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DA’VINE JOY RANDOLPH WINS BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
An extremely worthy winner, for a film that looks set to be completely shut out by Oppenheimer. She begins by telling Chiwetel Ejiofor that he’s handsome, and then goes on to tell Paul Giamatti that he’s talented. Both of which we basically all knew, but it’s probably nice for them to hear it anyway.
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ROBERT DOWNEY JR WINS BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Wow! Who could have possibly seen this coming? As expected, RDJ is a very snappy winner, reading a funny miniature biography about himself off a piece of paper.
And now for the Robert Downey Jr Foregone Conclusion Award, as presented by Gillian Anderson. She’s talking, Robert Downey Jr is edging towards the stage. Many of the other nominees haven’t bothered to turn up. Still, let’s act surprised when it happens anyway.
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AMERICAN FICTION WINS BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Well, bloody hell. This beat Oppenheimer, Poor Things and The Zone of Interest. Cord Jefferson walks onstage to slightly resentful applause, but delivers a tight and brief acceptance speech anyway.
EARTH MAMA WINS OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
Savanah Leaf, Shirley O’Connor and Medb Riordan take to the stage, from basically the back row of the Southbank Centre. They’re pointing at David Beckham and laughing. And now Leaf is crying. Big moment, worthy winner, long trudge back up the stairs to their seats.
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The song is over. Barry Keoghan blows Sophie Ellis-Bextor a kiss. It’s the sweetest thing I have ever seen that’s tangentially related to a film where a man takes all his clothes off and humps a grave.
Ah, this is nice. It won’t have the wild virality of Ariana DeBose last year, but that’s because the song is competently written and normally performed. Perhaps Bafta could have made a bit more of an effort here, perhaps by dressing the dancers up as Barry Keoghan’s penis, but at this point I’m splitting hairs.
David Tennant is now trying to describe Saltburn pre-watershed, in front of Rosamund Pike. Why? Because he’s wildly sick in the head? No, because Sophie Ellis-Bextor is here to sing Murder on the Dancefloor.
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THE BOY AND THE HERON WINS BEST ANIMATED FILM
Nobody from the production turned up, so that’s that. Meanwhile, Bradley Cooper is RIGHT THERE. He’d do anything for an award. Give him a flickbook and hand the Bafta to him, I say.
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Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott walk out to present best animated feature, to wild applause. How do they accept this moment of glory? By not saying or doing anything interesting or funny, that’s how.
POOR THINGS WINS BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The awards are coming quite thick and fast already. An entire army of Poor Things visual effects artists have crowded the stage. It’s an interesting choice, especially since one of the other nominated films was Mission: Impossible, which was basically a massive orgy of VFX.
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ANATOMY OF A FALL WINS BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Well this is a happy upset. Nobody looks like they expected this, least of all Justine Triet. Arthur Harari, meanwhile, decides to use his acceptance speech to warn the world that he might soon be pushed out of a window because the film might have been an awful premonition. So that’s something.
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Andy Serkis has walked on stage to present the first award of the night. He is continuing the dog-based theme of the evening, by rattling off so many dog puns that I genuinely lost the will to live for a moment. Anyway, best original screenplay time.
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And now: a montage of the year in cinema. Just to quickly say: have you ever tried to liveblog a montage? It’s really bloody difficult. There’s an aeroplane. There’s a woman in a jumper. There a cartoon crab. Is this as thrilling for you as it is for me? There’s a man playing the piano. There’s someone drinking out of a glass. There’s Willy Wonka. Hey, tell you what Bafta, make the awards more accessible for broadsheet newspaper livebloggers next year please.
For those keeping score, we just had our first conspicuous edit of the night. Tennant made a joke about AI to wild applause from the audience, except nobody the camera cut to was laughing or clapping or smiling. Sinister.
David Tennant is now standing behind a podium, so I guess this means that the awards have actually started. He’s wearing a kilt and David Beckham is in the audience for some reason. He’s doing weird cutaways to the stars; something that just resulted in the sight of Robert Downey Jr vogueing so hard that he all but threw his spine out.
Lots and lots of dog-based montages at the moment. Please remember this when all the technical awards are rammed into a 25-second montage at the end of the broadcast.
Tennant is scouting around all his famous friends on Zoom to see who can dog-sit for Michael Sheen. I have already forgotten why. Anyway, Stanley Tucci, Himesh Patel and Tom Hiddleston are all in on it. And so is Dame Judi Dench. There is every chance that the whole ceremony will be two hours of this.
The Baftas ceremony is under way on TV!
And now, after television viewers have been treated to a frigging Countryfile segment on linoleum printmaking, the 2024 Film Baftas are finally here. All the stars are here. Robert Downey Jr is dancing. Bradley Cooper is desperately praying that he hasn’t come all this way for nothing. And now here’s David Tennant, doing a Zoom with Michael Sheen like in that show they did.
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We are now just under 15 minutes away from the start of the Baftas, which is to say that everyone who is actually at the Baftas is just under 15 minutes away from the end of the Baftas. Or maybe more, since apparently the ceremony took about three quarters of an hour to get everyone sitting down. Still, one thing’s for sure, the stars have turned out for this one. Let’s hope it was worth them braving a miserable London February.
The Oppenheimer star Emily Blunt is up for best supporting actress but she’s giving main character energy in this sheer gown fresh off the Elie Saab haute couture catwalk. Featuring intricate beading and billowing sleeve detailing it’s certainly got star power.
Taylor Russell has practically swooped on to the red carpet in a feather-trimmed white dress from Loewe. The Canadian actor, who is an ambassador for the Spanish brand, previously wore a ‘tin can’ coat from the label so this seems pretty standard in comparison.
Dua Lipa is also endorsing red as this season’s it-colour. Her striking gown is from Valentino and thankfully it is a different shade of crimson to the red carpet.
It’s murder on the … sorry, can’t help it. Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who will perform her Saltburn-revived hit during tonight’s ceremony. Before that though, she’s giving Rosamund Pike some competition with an Elspeth-inspired black lace look. Is that another stole/boa we spot?
Nominated for best actor for his role in Maestro, Bradley Cooper seems to be wearing a very conductor-inspired coat. All that’s missing is a baton and it would be full cosplay.
He may have missed out on a leading actor nomination for his role in All of Us Strangers, but Andrew Scott still put effort into his red-carpet look. Red on red on red is quite intense. A bit like his preferred roles then.
Nominated for best actor for his role in Rustin, Colman Domingo is wearing a custom suit from Boss. The 54-year-old American has really honed his red carpet style, working closely with stylists Wayman and Micah. Love the wide-legged trousers and slightly longer jacket. The ribbon tie rather than formal bow is fun, too.
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Here comes Naomi Campbell in Chanel. In June the V&A unveils an exhibition dedicated to the supermodel. Do you think this will make into the greatest looks section?
Nominated for best supporting actress for her role in The Holdovers, Da’Vine Joy Randolph is certainly bringing joy to the red carpet. Her black and salmon pink (told you three is a trend) silk gown is from the London-based brand Robert Wun. Our biggest question – is there a wind machine just out of shot or does Randolph possess magical fashion powers?
Fringing, netting, lace and diamanté floral embroidery – there is a lot going on with Claire Foy’s Armani gown but she makes it work.
Cate Blanchett is wearing a custom maroon full-length dress from Louis Vuitton. Note the slick leather sleeve detailing and harness. Definitely a conversation-starter for her seat mate, chairman of the Baftas, Prince William.
Hurrah, Ryan Gosling has brought some serious Ken-ergy to the Bafta red carpet. The Barbie star, who is nominated for best supporting actor, spent some time signing autographs and taking selfies with fans outside. His blush-pink suit with cherry red piping detailing looks like it could have come straight from the Mojo Dojo Casa House. The unbuttoned shirt and waxed chest adds to the vibe. Our marks? More than Kenough!
There are long black dresses and then there are Dior long black dresses. Carey Mulligan’s features subtle bustier and corsetry detailing. It’s very chic. Mulligan has worn her hair loose which adds a cool contrasting casual touch. An up-do would feel too old-school. Sorry gen Z, yes that is a side parting you spy.
OK, it’s official, corsets are making a comeback. Florence Pugh just endorsed the trend, wearing a black gown with an inbuilt sparkly silver version. She is also carrying a black fuzzy stole. Remember Ayo Edebiri’s feather boa from earlier? Is this a red carpet accessory to watch?
The Anatomy of a Fall star Sandra Hüller has gone for a silver metallic floor-length gown that features a mini train. She better watch her step.
We all know Emma Corrin loves a pair of big pants from Miu Miu. The actor was one of the first to wear the brand’s sparkly versions last March when they appeared on the catwalk during its Paris fashion week show in a gold pair. This evening they have gone for a black pair featuring two giant teal bows that perfectly match their tights. The veiled headpiece is unexpected but very Corrin. More of this please.
Tell us you’re a Cartier brand ambassador, without telling us you’re a Cartier brand ambassador. Mescal is working hard to ensure his watch makes every shot. Even his blazer and shirt sleeves have been tweaked so they show off just the right amount of wrist.
Rosamund Pike continues to channel her Saltburn character Elspeth Catton. This time the nominee for best supporting actress has gone for a delicate pleated dress from Dior. Love the peek-a-boo corset underneath. Pike, who has been twirling for the camera, is certainly having fun wearing it.
Working with his stylist Ilaria Urbinati, Irish actor Barry Keoghan has carved out a fresh approach to red-carpet dressing. We’ve seen him in a bicep-revealing Givenchy vest at the Academy museum gala and a Burberry sleeveless woolly vest at the London premiere of Masters of Air . This evening, though, the best actor nominee (for Saltburn) has taken a slightly more demure approach, with a forest green utilitarian inspired jacket and matching trousers. He is even wearing a tie! That’s Keoghan though, just when you thought you had him figured out, he throws you a curveball.
We’ve lost count of how many red-carpet appearances and photocalls for Barbie Margot Robbie has taken part in over the last couple of months but she still doesn’t seem over it. Tonight she is giving a new spin to Barbie pink, choosing a black and blush pink column gown from Armani Privé. Robbie has paired it with elbow-length black gloves – they’re definitely becoming an it-accessory at Bafta. It feels slightly IRL statuette. Let’s see if Robbie, who is nominated for best actress, takes home an actual gold gong tonight.
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Unsurprisingly Emma Stone has gone for a very Bella Baxter-inspired look. The best actress nominee for Poor Things has leaned into the film’s big-sleeve energy. The brocade bodice and buttons give a nod to its 19th-century fashion but the slightly sheer skirt feels very 2024. It’s the second salmon-pink spot of the evening, too. One more and it’s a trend.
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David Beckham has gone fully #tradcore with a slim-cut black tux, crisp white shirt and perfectly centred bow tie. We know from his Netflix series, Beckham, that when it comes to his wardrobe attention to detail is key – it wouldn’t surprise us if he’d ironed the shirt himself.
We had high hopes for Ayo Edebiri’s Bafta look. The Bear star is fashion’s favourite cool girl. Her slightly offbeat minimalist style has huge influence.
Take a leather tie she wore earlier this month, with a white oversized shirt and baggy denim jeans. Costing £410 from Bottega Veneta, it sold out faster than you could say ‘Yes Chef!’ So this evening’s look featuring a feather boa, white elbow-length gloves and a salmon pink Bottega Veneta halter-neck dress is a bit of a curveball. It just feels a bit fussy for someone who is usually so fuss-free. Hang on, has Edebiri just had the same thought? It seems she has since ditched the feather boa. Did someone say fashion drama?
Here comes Lily Collins in a very Poor Things-inspired giant sleeved gown. Love the way the white corsages echo the sculptural floral piece that forms the centre of her dress. This look is putting the haute in horticulturist. A dark lip and slicked back hair adds edge. Emily Cooper would definitely approve.
The Normal People star Daisy Edgar-Jones is one of the first to arrive and see … told you this wasn’t going to be a red carpet ceremony that played it safe. The British actor is wearing red sequinned pants – a huge catwalk trend that is proving just as popular among A-listers. We’ve seen lots of celebrities wear them over sheer black tights but Edgar-Jones has gone for bare legs – the weather in London is fairly mild today. She has also chosen a plunging twisted top/dress. The red colourway is huge for this season.
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Earlier this week, photos of Cillian Murphy on the cover of GQ magazine went viral. The Oppenheimer star was pictured reclining on a sofa wearing a low cut black vest, unbuttoned silky blue shirt and lots of Talisman-esque jewellery. ‘Cillian Murphy is the man of the moment’ declared the publication. It was a fun look but for this evening Murphy has pared it right back. Instead, he has gone for a classic all-black, with a wool blazer and matching trousers. He has chosen a jumper rather than shirt which feels very modern but after that cover and some of his past red carpet looks it feels a little boring especially when we know the Irish actor can really pull off a statement outfit.
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The red carpet is unrolled
Hello everyone, and welcome to The Guardian’s liveblog of the 2024 Bafta film awards. If you’re at all familiar with these things, you will know that the Baftas hold a special place within the annual awards season. Not only is this one of the final major awards shows to take place before the Academy Awards, giving us a clearer picture of who might win an Oscar next month, but it is also arguably the most frustrating.
Oh, sure, if you’re actually there the whole thing is wonderful. You get to sit in a big room, watch host David Tennant charm the pants off everyone and (most importantly) learn who wins what at the precise moment that they win. But if you’re watching the Baftas on TV then, in true time-honoured Baftas tradition, you don’t get to see anything until the show has finished.
Which is to say that the actual Baftas start at 4:30pm, but the television broadcast doesn’t start until 7pm. Does this mean that the best way to follow the Baftas is by refreshing Twitter every couple of minutes and then ignoring the TV show? No, because we’re liveblogging the TV show and we’d really like the clicks.
So here’s the complicated schedule for the next few hours. Starting around now, stars will start turning up to the Southbank Centre, so we’ll be posting red carpet photos as and when. Then at 4:30pm the awards will begin, but we’ll pretend that they haven’t, because at 7pm I’ll liveblog the TV broadcast. We’ll all know who won everything by then, but that’s not really the point.
Anyway, this has the potential to be an excellent ceremony. All the awards – other than leading actress, obviously – are basically Oppenheimer’s to lose, although in truth the Baftas do have a tendency to go wildly off-piste (remember the year that 1917 basically won everything?), so who knows what’ll happen. At the very least, let’s all cross our fingers and pray that Ariana DeBose comes on and does another one of her weird raps. At the end of the day, that’s all we’re really after.
Here’s a little further reading on the awards in case you’d like something to sustain you for the next four or so hours:
• Peter Bradshaw’s Bafta predictions
• The full list of nominations
• David Tennant answers your questions
• Why Oppenheimer is set to sweep the board, plus a recap of the all the snubs and surprises in the nominations
• Why the speeches tonight matter for next month’s Oscars
Got through those already? Hows about some interviewees with people from Bafta-nominated films? We can offer:
• Messi the dog from Anatomy of a Fall
• Michael J Fox
• Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt
• The Zone of Interest director Jonathan Glazer and stars Sandra Hüller and Christian Friedel
• Poor Things’ Ramy Youssef and Yorgos Lanthimos
• The Color Purple’s Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks
• Barbie costume designer Jacqueline Durran and the men behind its music, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
• All of Us Strangers’ director Andrew Haigh
• How to Have Sex star Mia McKenna-Bruce
• For Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese, Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio, and Chief Standing Bear
• The Holdovers director Alexander Payne, plus stars Dominic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph
• Past Lives’ director Celine Song and star Greta Lee
• Rustin’s Colman Domingo
• June Givanni, recipient of this year’s outstanding contribution to British cinema award
• American Fiction’s Jeffrey Wright
• Nyad’s Jodie Foster and Annette Bening
• Saltburn’s Paul Rhys and Rosamund Pike
