Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap, the anarchic fictionalised biopic of the Belfast rap trio, continues its extraordinary journey through awards season with seven mentions – including one for best film – in the longlists for the British Academy of Film and Television awards (Bafta).

Saoirse Ronan is on the list for best actress for her turn in Nora Fingscheidt’s addiction drama The Outrun, but fails to score in supporting actress for Steve McQueen’s once much-tipped Blitz. Portia A Buckley’s Irish drama Clodagh, starring Bríd Ní Neachtain and Katelyn Rose Downey, is one of the 10 titles listed for best British short film. Ali Abassi’s The Apprentice, co-produced by Irish company Tailored Films, also scores a surprise place in the best film longlist. The study of Donald Trump’s early career landed six mentions in all. The academy today trims down the candidates in 25 categories before moving on to vote for the formal nominations, which will be announced on January 15th.

There was much buzz around Kneecap when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2024, but few reckoned it would be such a hit with mainstream awards bodies. Landing among the 10 films competing for the five nominations in best film is particularly notable. It there nudges aside such Oscar contenders as RaMell Ross’s Nickel Boys, Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain and, among the British contenders, McQueen’s Blitz and Mike Leigh’s much-admired Hard Truths. Kneecap also competes in outstanding British film, British debut, film not in the English language, screenplay, casting and editing. The film has already secured a place on the Oscar shortlist (confusingly, the American Academy’s equivalent of Bafta’s longlists) for best international picture.

Cillian Murphy can feel justifiably disappointed at missing out on a longlist place for best actor. His performance in Small Things Like These, though much praised, has picked up little buzz in the US awards season, but it seemed to have a better chance with the British academy. Christopher Rosen, host of the influential US podcast, Awards Magnet, told The Irish Times before Christmas that he “wouldn’t be shocked” if it got a nomination. That will now not happen. Emily Watson, who plays a sinister nun in the film, is, however, on the longlist for best supporting actress. That is Small Things’ only mention. With no place in best actor for Gladiator II, Paul Mescal now has little chance of an Oscar nomination.

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Jacques Audiard’s trans musical Emilia Pérez tops the longlist charts with 15 mentions. That equals the record set by Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front two years ago. Berger’s Conclave comes second this year with places on 14 lists. There were few huge snubs, though the team behind Nickel Boys will be disappointed with only two mentions. The Bafta awards take place at the Royal Festival Hall in London on February 16th.

Bafta film awards 2025 longlists

Best film

• Anora
• The Apprentice
• The Brutalist
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Kneecap
• The Substance
• Wicked

Outstanding British film

• Back to Black
• Bird
• Blitz
• Civil War
• Conclave
• Gladiator II
• Hard Truths
• Kneecap
• Lee
• Love Lies Bleeding
• The Outrun
• Paddington in Peru
• Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
• We Live in Time
• Wicked Little Letters

Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer

• Bring Them Down
• Grand Theft Hamlet
• Hoard
• Kneecap
• Monkey Man
• On Falling
• Santosh
• Sister Midnight
• The Taste of Mango
• The Teacher

Film not in English language

• All We Imagine as Light
• Black Dog (Gou zhen)
• The Count of Monte Cristo
• Emilia Pérez
• Flow
• The Girl with the Needle
• I’m Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui)
• Kneecap
• La Chimera
• The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Documentary

• The Bibi Files
• Black Box Diaries
• Daughters
• Elton John: Never Too Late
• I Am: Celine Dion
• Made In England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger
• No Other Land
• The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
• Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
• Will & Harper

Animated film

• Despicable Me 4
• Flow
• Inside Out 2
• Memoir of a Snail
• Moana 2
• That Christmas
• Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
• The Wild Robot

Director

• Payal Kapadia, All We Imagine as Light
• Sean Baker, Anora
• Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
• Edward Berger, Conclave
• Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Two
• Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
• Alice Rohrwacher, La Chimera
• Ellen Kuras, Lee
• Nora Fingscheidt, The Outrun
• Coralie Fargeat, The Substance

Original screenplay

• All We Imagine as Light
• Anora
• The Apprentice
• The Brutalist
• Challengers
• Civil War
• Heretic
• Kneecap
• A Real Pain
• The Substance
• Adapted screenplay
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Lee
• Nickel Boys
• Nightbitch
• The Outrun
• Sing Sing
• Wicked

Leading actress

• Amy Adams, Nightbitch
• Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
• Demi Moore, The Substance
• Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
• Kate Winslet, Lee
• Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths
• Marisa Abela, Back To Black
• Mikey Madison, Anora
• Nicole Kidman, Babygirl
• Saoirse Ronan, The Outrun

Leading actor

• Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
• Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
• Daniel Craig, Queer
• Dev Patel, Monkey Man
• Hugh Grant, Heretic
• Jude Law, Firebrand
• Kingsley Ben Adir, Bob Marley: One Love
• Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
• Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice
• Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown

Supporting actress

• Adriana Paz, Emilia Pérez
• Ariana Grande, Wicked
• Emily Watson, Small Things Like These
• Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
• Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
• Jamie Lee Curtis, The Last Showgirl
• Margaret Qualley, The Substance
• Michele Austin, Hard Truths
• Selena Gomez, Emilia Pérez
• Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

Supporting actor

• Clarence Maclin, Sing Sing
• Denzel Washington, Gladiator II
• Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
• Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
• Harris Dickinson, Babygirl
• Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice
• Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
• Mark Eydelshteyn, Anora
• Stanley Tucci, Conclave
• Yura Borisov, Anora

Children’s and family film

• Flow
• Kensuke’s Kingdom
• Piece By Piece
• Spellbound
• That Christmas
• Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
• The Wild Robot
• Young Woman and the Sea

Casting

• Anora
• The Apprentice
• Back To Black
• Blitz
• The Brutalist
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Emilia Pérez
• Kneecap
• Wicked

Cinematography

• Anora
• The Brutalist
• Civil War
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Gladiator II
• Nosferatu
• The Substance

Costume design

• Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
• Blitz
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
• Gladiator II
• Nosferatu
• Wicked

Editing

• Anora
• Challengers
• Civil War
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Gladiator II
• Kneecap
• The Substance

Make-up and hair

• The Apprentice
• Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
• Blitz
• A Complete Unknown
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Joker: Folie À Deux
• Nosferatu
• The Substance
• Wicked

Original score

• Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
• Blitz
• The Brutalist
• Conclave
• Emilia Pérez
• Gladiator II
• Nosferatu
• The Outrun
• The Substance
• The Wild Robot

Production design

• Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
• Blitz
• The Brutalist
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Gladiator II
• Nosferatu
• The Substance
• Wicked

Special visual effects

• Alien: Romulus
• Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
• Better Man
• Civil War
• Deadpool & Wolverine
• Dune: Part Two
• Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
• Gladiator II
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• Wicked

Sound

• Blitz
• The Brutalist
• Civil War
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Gladiator II
• The Substance
• Wicked

British short animation

• Adiós
• Mee and Burd
• Mog’s Christmas
• Plunge
• Three Hares
• Wander to Wonder

British short film

• The Ban
• Clodagh
• The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing
• Homework
• Marion
• Milk
• Rock, Paper, Scissors
• Sister Wives
• Stomach Bug
• Woodlice
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