BAFTA film awards 2025: Emilia Perez, Conclave, The Brutalist dominate—See the full winners list

Spanish-language “Emilia Perez”, period drama “The Brutalist” and papal selection thriller “Conclave” were among the winners at the BAFTAs, Britain’s top movie honours, on Sunday where the race remains open for the night’s top prize, best film.

At a glitzy ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall overlooking the River Thames, “Emilia Perez”, which mixes the diverse genres of musical and crime, triumphed in the film not in the English language category.

“This is too nice, you shouldn’t have done that,” director Jacques Audiard said in his acceptance speech. “This award is not just for me but everyone who worked tirelessly on this film.”

He thanked the film’s BAFTA best supporting actress nominees Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez as well as their absent co-star Karla Sofia Gascon, who is in the running for leading actress.

Saldana later won supporting actress for her portrayal of a lawyer who helps a Mexican cartel leader, played by Gascon, fake his death and transition from a man to a woman.

She called the role “the creative challenge of a lifetime”.

“Emilia Perez”, had been an early awards frontrunner but its campaign lost steam following controversy surrounding Gascon, who has apologised for past social media posts denigrating Muslims and other groups and said she would go silent to help the movie ahead of the Oscars.

It is up for the night’s top prize, best film, alongside “Conclave”, Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” and “The Brutalist”, a three-and-a-half hour tale about a Hungarian immigrant architect trying to rebuild his life in the United States post-World War Two.

‘CONCLAVE’ LED NOMINATIONS

The latter led betting odds ahead of the ceremony but many now consider “Anora”, about an exotic dancer who gets involved with a Russian oligarch’s son, a strong contender after it and director Sean Baker triumphed at the Critics Choice Awards, as well as the Producers and Directors Guild of America Awards ahead of next month’s Academy Awards.

“Conclave” had led the BAFTA nominations with 12 nods. It won outstanding British film, best adapted screenplay and best editing, while “The Brutalist” picked up prizes for original score and cinematography.

Many pundits consider the best director race to be between Baker for “Anora”; Edward Berger, for “Conclave”, who made history at the 2023 awards when his German remake of “All Quiet on the Western Front” won seven prizes; and Brady Corbet for “The Brutalist”.

Its star Adrien Brody is favourite to win leading actor after picking awards elsewhere.

“It was miserable trying to make a film for many years, having it fall apart over and over again was devastating,” Corbet told Reuters on the red carpet. “I’m really thrilled that (the film) exists … all this other stuff is icing on the cake.”

For leading actress, the frontrunners are Demi Moore, who has received multiple honours for her performance in body horror “The Substance”, and Briton Marianne Jean-Baptiste for her critically acclaimed portrayal of a woman struggling with depression in “Hard Truths”.

In the supporting actor category, Kieran Culkin won for dramedy “A Real Pain”. The movie also picked up best original screenplay for writer-director Jesse Eisenberg.