BAFTAS 2025: The winners

The Brutalist and Conclave were among the big winners at the 78th BAFTAs

Edward Berger’s Vatican-set thriller Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal overseeing the election of a new pope, entered this year’s Bafta ceremony with 12 nominations – the most of any film. It ultimately took home four awards: best picture, outstanding British film, adapted screenplay, and editing.

While accepting the award for outstanding British film, Berger – who dominated the Baftas two years ago with his All Quiet on the Western Front remake, winning seven prizes – reflected on the current state of the world: “We live in a time of democratic crisis. Institutions once meant to unite us are now driving us apart. Sometimes, holding on to faith feels difficult – and that’s why we make movies.”

Berger, whose film explores a fierce power struggle between liberals and traditionalists threatening to fracture the Catholic Church from within, concluded his speech with a poignant quote from Leonard Cohen: “There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.”

Brady Corbet’s epic drama The Brutalist, centered on a Hungarian modernist architect navigating post-war America, claimed four Bafta awards: best director, leading actor, cinematography, and score. Accepting the award for leading actor, Adrien Brody – who recently starred in the West End production The Fear of 13 – expressed gratitude to the British public for “embracing me and my creative endeavours,” adding, “England has felt quite a lot like home lately.”

The best actress category delivered a surprise, with Anora star Mikey Madison triumphing over frontrunner Demi Moore (The Substance) and fan favorite Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths). Madison, who also lost out on the rising star award to David Jonsson, plays an exotic dancer who falls in love with the son of a Russian oligarch in Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winning film, which also secured the award for best casting. On stage, Madison acknowledged the “sex worker community,” saying: “I see you, you deserve respect and human decency. I will always be a friend and an ally and I implore others to do the same.”

Meanwhile, Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez, a musical about a Mexican cartel leader who transitions while evading the mob, took home two awards from its 11 nominations, despite ongoing controversy surrounding offensive social media posts from its star, Karla Sofía Gascón.

List of winners

Best film

1. Winner: Conclave
2. Anora
3. The Brutalist
4. A Complete Unknown
5. Emilia Pérez

Outstanding British film

1. Winner: Conclave
2. Bird
3. Blitz
4. Gladiator II
5. Hard Truths
6. Kneecap
7. Lee
8. Love Lies Bleeding
9. The Outrun
10. Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

Leading actress

1. Winner: Mikey Madison – Anora
2. Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
3. Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez
4. Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Hard Truths
5. Demi Moore – The Substance
6. Saoirse Ronan – The Outrun

Leading actor

1. Winner: Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
2. Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown
3. Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
4. Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
5. Hugh Grant – Heretic
6. Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice

Supporting actress

1. Winner: Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez
2. Selena Gomez – Emilia Pérez
3. Ariana Grande – Wicked
4. Felicity Jones – The Brutalist
5. Jamie Lee Curtis – The Last Showgirl
6. Isabella Rossellini – Conclave

Supporting actor

1. Winner: Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
2. Yura Borisov – Anora
3. Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
4. Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown
5. Guy Pearce – The Brutalist
6. Jeremy Strong – The Apprentice

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER: Kneecap – Rich Peppiatt (director, writer)

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAG: Emilia Perez

DOCUMENTARY: Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

ANIMATED FILM: Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

CHILDREN’S & FAMILY FILM: Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

DIRECTOR: The Brutalist – Brady Corbet

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: A Real Pain – Jesse Eisenberg

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Conclave – Peter Straughan

CASTING: Anora – Sean Baker, Samantha Quan

CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Brutalist – Lol Crawley

EDITING: Conclave

COSTUME DESIGN: Wicked

MAKE-UP & HAIR: The Substance

ORIGINAL SCORE: The Brutalist

PRODUCTION DESIGN: Wicked

SOUND: Dune: Part Two

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS: Dune: Part Two

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION: Wander To Wonder

BRITISH SHORT FILM: Rock, Paper, Scissors

RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public): David Jonsson

The 2025 BAFTA Film Awards were held on Sunday at London’s Royal Festival Hall, with David Tennant returning as host of the prestigious ceremony.