HOLLYWOOD—The nominees for the 2025 British Academy of Film and Theatre Arts (BAFTA) were released during the wee hours of Wednesday morning January 15. Yes, this awards season has been a bit unorthodox as a result of wildfires that are plaguing the Southern Los Angeles region in the past week. Were there surprises? You bet and it makes an already interesting awards season that much more intriguing as some of the likely candidates are still contenders, while a few new faces have been introduced to the race.

Topping all candidates is the flick “Conclave” which earned 12 nominations including Best Film. Not far behind is the musical “Emilia Perez” that picked up 11 nominations also including Best Film. The other big contender for the BAFTA Awards is the three hour and 35-minute drama, “The Brutalist” which earned nine nominations.

Now, it’s time to talk about the surprises because there were plenty. Leading Actress saw the inclusion of Marianne Jean-Baptiste for her performance in “Hard Truths,” as well as Saoirse Ronan for “The Outrun.” Who missed the cut? No Nicole Kidman for “Babygirl” or Pamela Anderson for “The Last Showgirl.” The surprise was seeing Jamie Lee Curtis earn a nomination for Supporting Actress for “The Last Showgirl.” Curtis also earned a nomination last week with the Screen Actors Guild Awards, so it’s looking more and more likely that she might be a dark horse in that race.

Other surprises include the exclusion of Daniel Craig in the Lead Actor race for his role in “Queer,” while Denzel Washington missed the cut for his performance in “Gladiator II.” The other surprise was the nomination for Clarence Maclin for “Sing Sing.” There has been plenty of talk for Maclin for weeks now, but he has gone virtually absent most of awards season until now, so that Supporting Actor race continues to be an interesting one where I think any of the nominees can walk away with the prize.

A partial list of this year’s nominees can be viewed below:

Best Film

-“Conclave”

-“The Brutalist”

-“Emilia Perez”

-“Anora”

-“A Complete Unknown”

Best Director

-Sean Baker “Anora”

-Brady Corbet “The Brutalist”

-Edward Berger “Conclave”

-Denis Villeneuve “Dune: Part Two”

-Jacques Audiard “Emilia Perez”

-Coralie Fargeat “The Substance”

Lead Actor

-Adrien Brody “The Brutalist”

-Timothee Chalamet “A Complete Unknown”

-Colman Domingo “Sing Sing”

-Ralph Fiennes “Conclave”

-Hugh Grant “Heretic”

-Sebastian Stan “The Apprentice”

Lead Actress

-Cynthia Erivo “Wicked”

-Karla Sofia Gascon “Emilia Perez”

-Marianne Jean-Baptiste “Hard Truths”

-Mikey Madison “Anora”

-Demi Moore “The Substance”

-Saoirse Ronan “The Outrun”

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”

Supporting Actress

-Selena Gomez “Emilia Perez”

-Ariana Grande “Wicked”

-Felicity Jones “The Brutalist”

-Jamie Lee Curtis “The Last Showgirl”

-Isabella Rosellini “Conclave”

-Zoe Saldana “Emilia Perez”

Original Screenplay

-Sean Baker “Anora”

-Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold “The Brutalist”

-Rich Peppiatt “Kneecap”

-Jesse Eisenberg “A Real Pain”

-Coralie Fargeat “The Substance”

Adapted Screenplay

-James Mangold and Jay Cocks “A Complete Unknown”

-Peter Straughan “Conclave”

-Jacques Audiard “Emilia Perez”

-RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes “Nickel Boys”

-Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar “Sing Sing”

Film Not in the English Language

-“All we Imagine as Light”

-“Emilia Perez”

-“I’m Still Here” (Ainda Estou Aqu)

-“Kneecap”

-“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”

The 2025 BAFTA Awards will be held on Sunday, February 16 in London. The ceremony will be hosted by actor David Tennant.