Key events
Lauren Cochrane
Mikey Madison is keeping it classy in a white strapless dress, the kind of sparkles that require a bodyguard and even a matching wrap. The actor, nominated for best leading actress for her performance in Anora, could bring back this much-derided item from the fashion doldrums.
Lauren Cochrane
The woman playing Miranda Priestly in the stage musical of The Devil Wears Prada was always going to bring good fashion to the red carpet. Vanessa Williams’s green dress – with bow and swingy chiffon sleeves – is playful and classic at the same time. The beauty look – with proper updo and french manicure – works well for someone who was once crowned Miss America.
Lauren Cochrane
Is this the first Segway on the red carpet? Unclear. But it works well with Warwick Davis’ very luxurious-looking claret velvet blazer, bow tie and shiny proper shoes.
Lauren Cochrane
With an unbuttoned patterned shirt, leather coat and studded gloves, Colman Domingo shows us what menswear could look like on the red carpet. This feels a world away from the average black tux. Other men, please take note.
Lauren Cochrane
Pamela Anderson brings some real star power to the red carpet, dressed in all white. The combination of this Gentlemen Prefer Blondes-adjacent outfit of gown and jewels with her natural-look hair and makeup is something wonderful to behold.
Lauren Cochrane
More goth-adjacent outfits. Will Sharpe’s black suit, shirt, shoes and sunglasses could be standard for ‘actor on the red carpet’. The black nail polish, however, adds just a hint of Robert Smith-worthy style to the look. Black lipstick is only a matter of time.
Lauren Cochrane
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who is nominated for best leading actress for her role in Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths, goes for understated elegance here. Her long black dress, relatively subtle sparkles and sweet hairstyle is a welcome reprieve from the ultra-glamour usually seen on red carpets.
Lauren Cochrane
Eva von Bahr, a makeup artist nominated for her work on Dune: Part Two, is saying something here. It might be about AI, or possibly about the merits of 2004 film I, Robot … it’s unclear. But carrying your phone and keys in a bag shaped like an android’s head is always going to make a statement.
Lauren Cochrane
An elegant double-breasted suit is always a good idea – and that’s especially true when it’s in a dark claret and worn with a sparkly brooch, as per Adam Pearson. The extremely shiny shoes are satisfying, too.
Lauren Cochrane
Monica Barbaro looks unrecognisable from her turn as Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown – wearing a dress of muted sequins and white sandals. While it might have got some funny looks in Greenwich Village in the 60s, it’s just the right amount of glamour for the red carpet.
Lauren Cochrane
Gwendoline Christie continues the goth-approved style with a black satin dress and the kind of hair that would work for Tim Burton’s next film. As an actor who has made her name with more offbeat roles, it’s very on brand.
Lauren Cochrane
Lauren Cochrane here, reporting on the red carpet fashion. And what better way to start than Jeff Goldblum? Already a firm favourite in the industry, loved by labels such as Prada, he’s only going to gain more fans with this outfit. Combining the sheen of feathers with a classic tux and – of course – those shades, it’s a pro take on ‘classic with a twist’.
Catherine Shoard
Fancy some further reading? You can find out more about the recipient of this year’s special award for outstanding British contribution to cinema here – they’re a brilliant outfit which builds cinemas in hospitals. Whet your appetite further with titbits about this year’s menu, and study the full list of nominations, plus news on those nods and Peter Bradshaw’s take.
Speaking of Peter, his official predictions are here, Andrew’s here, and mine are below. Please note these are non-legally binding.
Best film Anora
Outstanding British film Conclave
Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer Kneecap, Rich Peppiatt (director, writer)
Best film not in the English language I’m Still Here
Best documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Best animated film Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Best children’s & family film Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Best director Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
Best original screenplay A Real Pain
Best adapted screenplay Conclave
Best actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths
Best actor Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Best supporting actress Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez
Best supporting actor Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Rising star award Mikey Madison
Catherine Shoard
Andrew Pulver has already written out this handy timetable for the evening; consult that for full details, but we’ll be here until 11pm GMT. The ceremony happens in real time between 5-7pm GMT and then it’s on BBC One in the UK, BritBox International in the US and BritBox on demand in Australia between 7-9pm.
We’ll report the news as it happens, but unless something truly momentous happens, we will keep it discreet on this blog, where Gwilym Mumford will be watching the ceremony from 7pm and invites you to join him.
Before then, we’ll have all the frocks and faux pas from the red carpet with Lauren Cochrane as well as non-spoilerific updates from me and Nadia Khomami at the Southbank Centre in London.
It begins …
Catherine Shoard
The red carpet has been unrolled, the stars are having their hair done and alternative plans have been made for the Netflix afterparty after a fire broke out at their original venue, the Chiltern Firehouse, on Friday. The scene is set for the 78th British Academy Film Awards.
Why do they matter? Well, other than being important in their own right, they are last-gasp auditions for the Academy Awards in a fortnight. Final Oscars voting closes on Tuesday, and many voters will be keeping their powder dry until they see what happens tonight: who’s unfairly snubbed, who gives a corker of an acceptance speech and whether anybody falls over their frock.
Plus, a Venn diagram of Bafta and Oscar voters would reveal much more overlap than with most other awards bodies – certainly than the Golden Globes and Critics Choice awards. Last weekend, two big guild bodies in the US – the directors’ and producers’ guilds – upended the race by bestowing their big prize not on previous frontrunner The Brutalist but rather on Sean Baker’s Anora.
Will Bafta voters follow suit? Might boomer nostalgia dominate and offer the gong instead to A Complete Unknown? Or could the home advantage mean we see white smoke for Conclave – in both the best film and outstanding British film categories?
Article by:Source: Catherine Shoard, Andrew Pulver, Lauren Cochrane, Nadia Khomami and Gwilym Mumford
