LONDON — The British Academy of Film and Television Arts unveiled its nominations for the 2026 awards season, positioning Paul Thomas Anderson’s politically charged action thriller ‘One Battle After Another’ as the frontrunner with an impressive 14 nominations. The film received recognition across major categories, including five acting nods for its ensemble cast.
Ryan Coogler’s blues-infused vampire epic ‘Sinners’ followed closely with 13 nominations, while Chloé Zhao’s Shakespearean family tragedy ‘Hamnet’ and Josh Safdie’s ping-pong odyssey ‘Marty Supreme’ each secured 11 nominations. The Norwegian family drama ‘Sentimental Value’ rounded out the Best Film category alongside these contenders.
In the competitive Best Leading Actor category, Robert Aramayo garnered recognition for his portrayal of a man with Tourette’s syndrome in ‘I Swear,’ competing against Timothée Chalamet (‘Marty Supreme’), Leonardo DiCaprio (‘One Battle After Another’), Ethan Hawke (‘Blue Moon’), Michael B. Jordan (‘Sinners’), and Jesse Plemons (‘Bugonia’).
The Leading Actress race features favorite Jessie Buckley (‘Hamnet’) against Rose Byrne (‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’), Kate Hudson (‘Song Sung Blue’), Chase Infiniti (‘One Battle After Another’), Renate Reinsve (‘Sentimental Value’), and Emma Stone (‘Bugonia’).
Notably, The Associated Press received a nomination in the Best Documentary category for Mstyslav Chernov’s harrowing Ukraine war portrait ‘2000 Meters to Andriivka,’ co-produced by AP and PBS Frontline.
The awards ceremony, scheduled for February 22 in London with actor Alan Cumming hosting, traditionally serves as a significant indicator for Hollywood’s Academy Awards on March 15. This year presents an unusual sequence with Oscar nominations announced first, where ‘Sinners’ set a record with 16 nominations followed by ‘One Battle After Another’ with 13.
The British academy demonstrated its distinctive perspective by recognizing several performers overlooked by the Oscars, including supporting actor nominees Paul Mescal (‘Hamnet’) and Odessa A’zion (‘Marty Supreme’). The BAFTAs maintain their British focus through a separate category for Best British Film, with nominees including ‘The Ballad of Wallis Island,’ ‘Pillion,’ ‘I Swear,’ and ‘Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.’
Voting procedures involve 8,500 U.K. industry professionals selecting most winners, while the Rising Star Award remains determined by public vote from a shortlist featuring Infiniti, Aramayo, ‘Sinners’ star Miles Caton, and British actors Archie Madekwe and Posy Sterling.
The nominations reflect ongoing diversity initiatives implemented after 2020, when no women were nominated for Best Director for the seventh consecutive year and all 20 acting nominees were white. Currently, Zhao stands as the sole female nominee in the Best Director category alongside Anderson, Safdie, Coogler, Yorgos Lanthimos (‘Bugonia’), and Joachim Trier (‘Sentimental Value’). Across all categories including documentaries and shorts, 25% of directing nominees are women.