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Britain’s biggest celebration of film – the BAFTAs – take place this Sunday, honouring the best movies of the last year.

With a brand-new host, two special live musical performances, and a red carpet packed with celebrities, it’s set to be a star-studded night with plenty of surprises in store.

The BAFTA Awards 2023 take place on 19 February. Pic: BAFTA/Marc Hoberman
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Pic: BAFTA/Marc Hoberman

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of this year’s BAFTA Film Awards.

Where are they being held?

The ceremony will take place at the Royal Festival Hall in London’s Southbank Centre.

Sky News will be liveblogging winners as they’re announced, ahead of the televised ceremony which will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 7pm on Sunday night.

Which films are in the running?

More on Bafta

A total of 38 films are up for awards.

Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic about atomic bomb creator J Robert Oppenheimer leads the pack with 13 nominations.

Cillian Murphy is J Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer, written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan. Pic: Universal Pictures
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Cillian Murphy is J Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer. Pic: Universal Pictures

Gothic fairy-tale Poor Things has 11 nods, while Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon and German-language drama The Zone Of Interest both have nine nods.

French courtroom drama Anatomy Of A Fall, 70s nostalgia-fest The Holdovers, and Bradley Cooper’s labour of love Maestro all have seven nominations.

Read more: See the full list of nominations here

All Of Us Strangers, starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, has six nominations, while Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn both have five.

Despite being the highest-grossing film of 2023, Barbie failed to make it into the best film category, and Gerwig is also absent from the directing category. It’s likely the film’s fictional heroine would have had something rather pointed to say about those omissions…

Which stars are likely to take home a gong?

If past achievements are anything to go by, Golden Globe wins earlier this year for Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy and Poor Things actress Emma Stone set them both in good stead.

Emma Stone in Poor Things. Pic: Yorgos Lanthimos/Searchlight Pictures
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Emma Stone in Poor Things. Pic: Yorgos Lanthimos/Searchlight Pictures


And he’s Britain’s most successful working director, but Christopher Nolan has never won a BAFTA for best film or best director, so many feel this could be his year.

With many of the other categories wide open, one that many of the critics are calling is best supporting actress, with The Holdovers star Da’Vine Joy Randolph considered to be the runaway favourite for both a BAFTA and an Oscar win next month.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph stars as Mary Lamb in director Alexander Payne's The Holdovers. Pic: Focus Features/Seacia Pavao
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Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers. Pic: Focus Features/Seacia Pavao

Whether audience-favourite Ryan Gosling will snap up best supporting actor is less easy to foretell.

However, his nomination in this category has received less of a frenzied response than the same nod at the Oscars, mainly due to the fact that Margot Robbie does have a BAFTA nod for best actress, while she was locked out of the Academy Award shortlist.

Jacob Elordi
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Jacob Elordi

In the Rising Star category – the only award voted for the public – actor Jacob Elordi‘s much-talked about performances in Saltburn and Priscilla – would seem to give him more than an even chance of taking home the prize.

Who’s hosting?

David Tennant will host this year’s event for the first time.

David Tennant and Catherine Tate reprise their roles in the 60th anniversary special of Doctor Who
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David Tennant and Catherine Tate in Doctor Who. Pic: BBC

Clearly feeling laid back about the challenge, he said: “It’ll either work and everyone will be terribly nice about it or it’ll be a total disaster and I’ll never be asked again. Either way – it’s fine.”

The 52-year-old Scottish star has said he won’t be “roasting” any of the stars on the night – an approach that has received mixed results at the BAFTAs in the past.

Last year, the awards ceremony was hosted by Saltburn actor Richard E Grant and This Morning host Alison Hammond, and the year before by Australian actress and comedian Rebel Wilson.

Tennant says he hopes it will be an “evening of generosity and joy,” and has also hinted that his former Doctor Who co-star Catherine Tate might make a surprise appearance.

Pic: Matt Crossick/Global/Shutterstock
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Dua Lipa. Pic: Matt Crossick/Global/Shutterstock

Who’ll be presenting the awards?

Famous faces giving out awards include David Beckham, Dua Lipa, Hugh Grant, Idris Elba, Cate Blanchett, Gillian Anderson and Daisy Edgar Jones.

And while All Of Us Strangers co-star Andrew Scott was a notable absence from the best actor contenders, he will present a prize on the night.

Will there be any music?

The ceremony will feature performances by Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Hannah Waddingham.

Ellis-Bextor will be performing her 2001 hit Murder On The Dancefloor, which has become a viral hit since featuring in the closing finale of Saltburn.

Ted Lasso star Waddingham will also give a live musical performance, with details of her turn a closely guarded secret.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor performs one of her kitchen discos. Pic: Richard Jones
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Sophie Ellis-Bextor.Pic: Richard Jones

Will any other prizes be handed out?

The Bafta Fellowship – the film academy’s highest honour – will be presented to actress Samantha Morton.

Over a three-decade career (and counting), her credits have spanned British indie productions to Hollywood blockbusters, starring in movies including Under The Skin, The Minority Report and The Whale.

Previous BAFTA Fellow include Charlie Chaplin, Elizabeth Taylor and Steven Spielberg.

Samantha Morton
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Samantha Morton. Pic: Ian West/PA Photos

BAFTA’s Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema will be presented to June Givanni.

She is a pioneering film curator, writer and programmer of African and African diaspora cinema.

Givanni founded The June Givanni PanAfrican Archive (JGPACA), a volunteer-run archive comprising over 10,000 rare and unique artefacts documenting the development of filmmaking across Africa and the African diaspora, including in Britain.

Sky News will be liveblogging winners as they’re announced, from around 4.30pm on Sunday afternoon – follow it all live on our site.

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Man arrested for alleged sexual assault ‘on set of EastEnders’

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Man arrested for alleged sexual assault 'on set of EastEnders'

A man has been arrested on suspicion of assault and sexual assault – which reportedly took place on the set of EastEnders.

The alleged incident happened on the set of the BBC soap at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire, according to The Sun newspaper.

Hertfordshire Police confirmed a man in his 50s was arrested after the report in Eldon Avenue, Borehamwood, on 7 May.

The man is accused of sexual assault and common assault in relation to two victims, the force said.

The suspect is on bail while inquiries continue, police added.

EastEnders said in a statement: “While we would never comment on individuals, EastEnders has on-site security and well-established procedures in place to safeguard the safety and welfare of everyone who works on the show.”

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BST Hyde Park’s final day cancelled as Jeff Lynne’s ELO pulls out of headline slot

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BST Hyde Park's final day cancelled as Jeff Lynne's ELO pulls out of headline slot

BST Hyde Park festival has cancelled its final night after Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra pulled out of the headline slot.

Lynne, 77, was due to play alongside his band on Sunday but has been forced to withdraw from the event following a “systemic infection”.

The London show was supposed to be a “final goodbye” from ELO following their farewell US tour.

Organisers said on Saturday that Lynne was “heartbroken” at being unable to perform.

A statement read: “Jeff has been battling a systemic infection and is currently in the care of a team of doctors who have advised him that performing is simply not possible at this time nor will he be able to reschedule.

“The legacy of the band and his longtime fans are foremost in Jeff’s mind today – and while he is so sorry that he cannot perform, he knows that he must focus on his health and rehabilitation at this time.”

They later confirmed the whole of Sunday’s event would be cancelled.

“Ticket holders will be refunded and contacted directly by their ticket agent with further details,” another statement said.

Stevie Wonder played the festival on Saturday – now its final event of 2025.

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US rock band The Doobie Brothers and blues rock singer Steve Winwood were among those who had been due to perform to before ELO’s headline performance.

The cancellation comes after the band, best known for their hit Mr Blue Sky, pulled out of a performance due to take place at Manchester’s Co-Op Live Arena on Thursday.

ELO was formed in Birmingham in 1970 by Lynne, multi-instrumentalist Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan.

They first split in 1986, before frontman Lynne resurrected the band in 2014.

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Donald Trump threatens to revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s US citizenship

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Donald Trump threatens to revoke Rosie O'Donnell's US citizenship

Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.

In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”

He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.

O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.

“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.

“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”

Rosie O'Donnell arrives at the ELLE Women in Hollywood celebration on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
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Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP

O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.

She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.

O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.

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Will Trump address parliament on UK state visit?

This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.

But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.

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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.

“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.

“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”

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