The 74th British Academy Film Awards, also known as the BAFTAs, were held on 10 and 11 April 2021 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 2020 and early 2021. Presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, accolades were handed out for the best feature-length film and documentaries of any nationality that were screened at British cinemas in 2020 and early 2021.
The nominees were announced on 9 March 2021. The American drama Nomadland and British coming-of-age drama Rocks received the most nominations with seven each; the former ultimately won four, including Best Film.
Winners and nominees
The nominees were announced on 9 March 2021. The winners were announced on 10 and 11 April 2021.
BAFTA Fellowship
Ang Lee
Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema
Noel Clarke
Awards Winners are listed first, and highlighted in boldface.
Nomadland – Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears and Chloé Zhao The Father – Philippe Carcassonne, Jean-Louis Livi and David Parfitt The Mauritanian – Adam Ackland, Leah Clarke, Beatriz Levin and Lloyd Levin Promising Young Woman – Ben Browning, Emerald Fennell, Ashley Fox and Josey McNamara The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Stuart M. Besser and Marc Platt | valign="top" width="50%" | Chloé Zhao – Nomadland Jasmila Žbanić – Quo Vadis, Aida? Lee Isaac Chung – Minari Sarah Gavron – Rocks Shannon Murphy – Babyteeth Thomas Vinterberg – Another Round Anthony Hopkins – The Father as Anthony Adarsh Gourav – The White Tiger as Balram Halwai / Ashok Sharma Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey's Black Bottom as Levee Green Mads Mikkelsen – Another Round as Martin Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal as Ruben Stone Tahar Rahim – The Mauritanian as Mohamedou Ould Slahi Frances McDormand – Nomadland as Fern Alfre Woodard – Clemency as Warden Bernadine Williams Bukky Bakray – Rocks as Olushola Omotoso Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version as Radha Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman as Martha Weiss Wunmi Mosaku – His House as Rial Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah as Fred Hampton Alan Kim – Minari as David Yi Barry Keoghan – Calm with Horses as Dymphna Clarke Peters – Da 5 Bloods as Otis Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night in Miami... as Sam Cooke Paul Raci – Sound of Metal as Joe Youn Yuh-jung – Minari as Soon-ja Ashley Madekwe – County Lines as Toni Dominique Fishback – Judas and the Black Messiah as Akua Njeri Kosar Ali – Rocks as Sumaya Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm as Tutar Sagdiyev Niamh Algar – Calm with Horses as Ursula Promising Young Woman – Emerald Fennell Another Round – Tobias Lindholm and Thomas Vinterberg Mank – Jack Fincher Rocks – Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Aaron Sorkin The Father – Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller The Dig – Moira Buffini The Mauritanian – Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani and M.B. Traven Nomadland – Chloé Zhao The White Tiger – Ramin Bahrani The Owl and the Pussycat – Mole Hill and Laura Duncalf The Fire Next Time – Renaldho Pelle, Yanling Wang and Kerry Jade Kolbe The Song of a Lost Boy – Daniel Quirke, Jamie MacDonald and Brid Arnstein The Present – Farah Nabulsi Eyelash – Jesse Lewis Reece and Ike Newman Lizard – Akinola Davies, Rachel Dargavel and Wale Davies Lucky Break – John Addis and Rami Sarras Pantoja Miss Curvy – Ghada Eldemellawy Soul – Pete Docter and Dana Murray Onward – Kori Rae and Dan Scanlon Wolfwalkers – Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart and Paul Young My Octopus Teacher – Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster Collective – Alexander Nanau David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet – Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes and Keith Scholey The Dissident – Bryan Fogel, Thor Halvorssen, Mark Monroe and Jake Swantko The Social Dilemma – Jeff Orlowski and Larissa Phodes Another Round – Thomas Vinterberg, Kasper Dissing and Sisse Graum Jørgensen Dear Comrades! – Andrei Konchalovsky and Alisher Usmanov Les Misérables – Ladj Ly, Toufik Ayadi and Christophe Barral Minari – Lee Isaac Chung and Christina Oh Quo Vadis, Aida? – Jasmila Žbanić and Damir Ibrahimovich Rocks – Lucy Pardee Calm with Horses – Shaheen Baig Judas and the Black Messiah – Alexa L. Fogel Minari – Julia Kim Promising Young Woman – Lindsay Graham-Ahanonu and Mary Vernieu Nomadland – Joshua James Richards Judas and the Black Messiah – Sean Bobbitt Mank – Erik Messerschmidt The Mauritanian – Alwin H. Küchler News of the World – Dariusz Wolski Ma Rainey's Black Bottom – Ann Roth Ammonite – Michael O'Connor The Dig – Alice Babidge Emma – Alexandra Byrne Mank – Trish Summerville Sound of Metal – Mikkel E.G. Nielsen The Father – Yorgos Lamprinos Nomadland – Chloé Zhao Promising Young Woman – Frédéric Thoraval The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Alan Baumgarten Ma Rainey's Black Bottom – Matiki Anoff, Larry M. Cherry, Sergio Lopez-Rivera and Mia Neal The Dig – Jenny Shircore Hillbilly Elegy – Patricia Dehaney, Eryn Krueger Mekash and Matthew W. Mungle Mank – Colleen LaBaff, Kimberley Spiteri and Gigi Williams Pinocchio – Dalia Colli, Mark Coulier and Francesco Pegoretti Soul – Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Mank – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Minari – Emile Mosseri News of the World – James Newton Howard Promising Young Woman – Anthony Willis Mank – Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale The Dig – Maria Djurkovic and Tatiana Macdonald The Father – Peter Francis and Cathy Featherstone News of the World – David Crank and Elizabeth Keenan Rebecca – Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer Sound of Metal – Jaime Baksht, Nicolas Becker, Phillip Bladh, Carlos Cortés and Michelle Couttolenc Greyhound – Beau Borders, Christian P. Minkler, Michael Minkler, Warren Shaw and David Wyman News of the World – Michael Fentum, William Miller, Mike Prestwood Smith, John Pritchett and Oliver Tarney Nomadland – Sergio Díaz, Zach Seivers and M. Wolf Snyder Soul – Coya Elliott, Ren Klyce and David Parker Tenet – Scott R. Fisher, Andrew Jackson and Andrew Lockley Greyhound – Peter Bebb, Nathan McGuinness and Sebastian von Overheidt The Midnight Sky – Matt Kasmir, Chris Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins Mulan – Sean Faden, Steve Ingram, Anders Langlands and Seth Maury The One and Only Ivan – Santiago Colomo Martinez, Nick Davis, Greg Fisher and Ben Jones Promising Young Woman – Emerald Fennell, Ben Browning, Ashley Fox and Josey McNamara Calm with Horses – Nick Rowland, Daniel Emmerson and Joe Murtagh The Dig – Simon Stone, Gabrielle Tana and Moira Buffini The Father – Florian Zeller, Philippe Carcassonne, Jean-Louis Livi, David Parfitt and Christopher Hampton His House – Remi Weekes, Martin Gentles, Edward King and Roy Lee Limbo – Ben Sharrock, Irune Gurtubai and Angus Lamont The Mauritanian – Kevin Macdonald, Adam Ackland, Leah Clarke, Beatriz Levin, Lloyd Levin, Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani and M.B. Traven Mogul Mowgli – Bassam Tariq, Riz Ahmed, Thomas Benski and Bennett McGhee Rocks – Sarah Gavron, Ameenah Ayub Allen, Faye Ward, Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson Saint Maud – Rose Glass, Andrea Cornwell and Oliver Kassman His House – Remi Weekes (Writer/Director) Limbo – Ben Sharrock (Writer/Director) and Irune Gurtubai (Producer) Moffie – Jack Sidey (Writer/Producer) Rocks – Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson (Writer) Saint Maud – Rose Glass (Writer/Director) and Oliver Kassman (Producer) Bukky Bakray Conrad Khan Kingsley Ben-Adir Morfydd Clark Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù
Ceremony information Both ceremonies were delayed two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, taking place largely virtually, still lining up with the 93rd Academy Awards set to take place on 25 April 2021, two weeks following both British Academy of Film and Television Arts' (BAFTA) ceremonies. Despite its minimal live elements, the ceremonies still featured a red carpet in London and a step and repeat in Los Angeles.
The nominees were significantly more diverse than at any previous BAFTA Awards ceremony. Sixteen of the twenty-four nominees in the acting categories were from ethnic minority backgrounds. Four nominees for Best Director were women and three of the directors of films nominated for Best Film Not in the English Language were also women. The ceremony also introduced a new voting system for nominations after criticism over lack of diversity at the 73rd British Academy Film Awards. In the first round, voters compile a longlist in all categories (with a gender quota in the directing category). It is now compulsory for all voters to watch all long-listed films before the second round. In the second round, the nominees in the directing category and all four acting categories were decided by a small jury.
BBC radio and television presenter Clara Amfo hosted the Opening Night ceremony from the Royal Albert Hall, which aired on 10 April 2021 on BBC Two and BBC Two HD, and was joined by actress and screenwriter Joanna Scanlan, and film critic Rhianna Dhillon. The first ceremony awarded casting, craft, and short film categories, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role nominee Leslie Odom Jr. performed the song "Speak Now" from the film One Night in Miami.... Edith Bowman and Dermot O'Leary hosted the second night of the ceremony, which aired on 11 April 2021 on BBC One and BBC One HD. The co-hosts, who for several years have hosted BAFTA's live red carpet show, were joined by a small group of awards presenters at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as additional presenters via the internet from Los Angeles.
At the 11 April ceremony, the Royal Albert Hall was drenched in red light. Bowman and O'Leary led presentations to the all-virtual nominees, alongside a handful of actors as in-person presenters. The first musical performance of the night was a virtual duet, with two holograms of Liam Payne singing together. Catherine Shoard of The Guardian described the live virtual audience, present to laugh and applaud on cue, as "eerie". Shaord also opined that while the nominees were atypically diverse, including twenty-one first-time acting nominees, the eventual winners were traditional. She also asserted that Nomadlands four wins indicated it as the frontrunner for the upcoming Academy Awards.
Announced on 8 April 2021, both ceremonies had been intended to feature Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, the president of BAFTA. At the opening ceremony, he planned to speak virtually with filmmakers about the hardships of film production during the COVID-19 pandemic and would have presented a video speech about the resilience of the film industry during the 11 April ceremony. However, he pulled out from public engagements due to the death of his grandfather, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, on 9 April 2021.