BAFTA Releases Its (Fairly Pointless) Longlists with Barbie, Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon Leading the Pack

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts, familiarly known as BAFTA, has released 24 “longlists” of possible contenders in the 24 categories for which it nominates its annual BAFTA Awards. Nominations for the awards will be announced on Thursday, Jan. 18 at 12pm GMT.

The annually-released longlists are only of interest in terms of seeing which movies are receiving the most attention from the BAFTA membership, which does have some crossover with the Academy of Motion Pictures and Television that gives out the Oscars each year. The list mentions the films, performances and creatives involved that are now eligible to move onto the second round of voting.

There aren’t too many surprises with regular awards season frontrunners, Greta Gerwig‘s Barbie, Christopher Nolan‘s Oppeneheimer, and Martin Scorsese‘s Killers of the Flower Moon each receiving the most mentions with 15 apiece, but other films like Yorgos Lanthimos‘ Poor Things, Bradley Cooper‘s Maestro, Emerald Fennell‘s Saltburn, and Andrew Haigh‘s All of Us Strangers.

It seems like a moot point to even announce or release these longlist since other than Best Film, they do nothing to give an idea of where things might land when categories are pared down to five or six actual nominations.

On top of that, the “longlist” for Best Film only lists ten films, exactly the number of films that will be nominated, so there’s no real suspense there. (The biggest takeaway there is that Cord Jefferson‘s American Fiction, which was nominated for its screenplay, its direction, and lead actor Jeffrey Wright, was not included in the ten Best Films listed.

Also, Todd Haynes‘ May December appears on the longlists for Original Screenplay and for Supporting Actress Julianne Moore, but noticeably absent are Natalie Portman and Supporting Actor Charles Melton, who won the Gotham Award and is thought to be in the running for an Oscar nomination.

As might be expected, the majority of BAFTA members are British, and they do love to honor their countrymates. Hence, the categories for “Outstanding British Film” and “Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer.” It’s interesting to see Jonathan Glazer‘s The Zone of Interest included in that former category (as well as the longlists for Director and Adapted Screenplay), while also being on the longlist for “Film Not in English Language.” Maybe that isn’t surprising considering that Edward Berger‘s All Quiet on the Western Front received the most longlist mentions last year, but it seems to be giving Glazer’s film an advantage in a category that should be awarded to a filmmaker from another country.

The British membership in BAFTA also gives Nolan’s movie a significant advantage over Gerwig and Scorsese in primary categories, but it’s also the reason why smaller British films like Saltburn and All of Us Strangers received so much longlist attention despite not really having much of an impact in North America, outside of film critics.

Either way, you can pour through all the respective longlists below and see if you get anything more out of them than I did.

BEST FILM

10 films will advance in the Best Film category. 234 eligible films were submitted for consideration. All film voting members of BAFTA vote to determine the longlist, nominations and overall winner.

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

15 films will advance in the Outstanding British Film category. All BAFTA film voting members were invited to join an opt-in chapter to determine the longlist (of which the top five are nominated).  A jury selects the remaining five nominations. In the final round all film voting members vote to determine the winning film. 76 eligible films were submitted for consideration.

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

10 films will advance in the Outstanding Debut category.  A jury determines the longlist, nominations and overall winner in this category. 52 eligible films were submitted for consideration.

FILM NOT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

10 films will advance in the Film Not in the English Language category. All BAFTA film voting members were invited to join an opt-in chapter to determine the longlist. This chapter will vote to nominate five films and will vote for the overall winning film. 59 eligible films were submitted for consideration.

DOCUMENTARY

10 films will advance in the Documentary category. All BAFTA film voting members were invited to join an opt-in chapter to determine the longlist (of which the top two are nominated).  A jury selects the remaining three nominations. In the final round the Documentary opt-in chapter votes to determine the winning film. 60 eligible films were submitted for consideration.

ANIMATED FILM

Eight films will advance in the Animated Film category. All BAFTA film voting members were invited to join an opt-in chapter to determine the longlist. This chapter will vote to nominate four films and will vote for the winning film. 17 eligible films were submitted for consideration.

DIRECTOR

16 films will advance in the Director category. Members of the Directing chapter vote for their top 16 to determine the longlist, of which the top female, male, and directors who identify as non-binary (within the voting results range of the top 10 female/male directors) will be longlisted to a max of 11, with female/male gender parity upheld, and of which the top two are nominated regardless of gender. A longlisting jury selects the final places from the next 8 placed female, male & non-binary directors (placed within this voting results range). A nominating jury selects four Directors from the longlist to make-up a nominee list of six Directors. In the final round all film voting members vote to determine the winning film. 206 eligible films were submitted for consideration.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

10 films will advance in the Original Screenplay category. Members of the Writers chapter vote to determine the longlist and the nominations. In the final round of voting, all film voting members will vote for the winning film. 100 eligible films were submitted for consideration.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

10 films will advance in the Adapted Screenplay category. Members of the Writers chapter vote to determine the longlist and the nominations. In the final round of voting, all film voting members will vote for the winning film. 61 eligible films were submitted for consideration.

LEADING ACTRESS

10 performances will advance in the Leading Actress category. Members of the Acting chapter vote to determine the longlist (of which the top three are nominated). A longlisting jury selects a further three performances to create a longlist of 10. A nominating jury then selects three performances from the longlist to make-up a nominee list of six performances. In the final round all film voting members vote to determine the winning performance. 94 performances were submitted for consideration.

LEADING ACTOR

10 performances will advance in the Leading Actor category. Members of the Acting chapter vote to determine the longlist (of which the top three are nominated). A longlisting jury selects a further three performances to create a longlist of 10. A nominating jury then selects three performances from the longlist to make-up a nominee list of six performances. In the final round all film voting members vote to determine the winning performance. 108 performances were submitted for consideration.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

10 performances will advance in the Supporting Actress category. Members of the Acting chapter vote to determine the longlist (of which the top three are nominated). A longlisting jury selects a further three performances to create a longlist of 10. A nominating jury then selects three performances from the longlist to make-up a nominee list of six performances. In the final round all film voting members vote to determine the winning performance. 224 performances were submitted for consideration.

SUPPORTING ACTOR

10 performances will advance in the Supporting Actor category. Members of the Acting chapter vote to determine the longlist (of which the top three are nominated). A longlisting jury selects a further three performances to create a longlist of 10. A nominating jury then selects three performances from the longlist to make-up a nominee list of six performances. In the final round all film voting members vote to determine the winning performance. 338 performances were submitted for consideration.

CASTING

10 films will advance in the Casting category. Members of the Casting chapter vote to determine the longlist. A jury selects the five nominations and in the final round all film voting members select the winning film. 128 films were submitted for consideration.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

10 films will advance in the Cinematography category. Members of the Cinematography chapter vote to determine the longlist and the nominations. In the final round of voting, all film voting members will vote for the overall winning film. 186 films were submitted for consideration.

COSTUME DESIGN

10 films will advance in the Costume Design category. Members of the Costume and Makeup & Hair chapters vote to determine the longlist and the nominations. In the final round of voting, all film voting members will vote for the overall winning film. 129 films were submitted for consideration.

EDITING

10 films will advance in the Editing category. Members of the Editing chapter vote to determine the longlist and the nominations. In the final round of voting, all film voting members will vote for the overall winning film. 197 films were submitted for consideration.

MAKE UP & HAIR

10 films will advance in the Make Up & Hair category. Members of the Costume Design and the Make Up & Hair chapters vote to determine the longlist and the nominations. In the final round of voting, all film voting members will vote for the overall winning film. 124 films were submitted for consideration.

ORIGINAL SCORE

10 films will advance in the Original Score category. Members of the Music chapter vote to determine the longlist and the nominations. In the final round of voting, all film voting members will vote for the overall winning film. 131 films were submitted for consideration. Music cue sheets are provided by the entrants and published on BAFTA View.

PRODUCTION DESIGN

10 films will advance in the Production Design category. Members of the Production Design chapter vote to determine the longlist and the nominations. In the final round of voting, all film voting members will vote for the overall winning film. 151 films were submitted for consideration.

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

10 films will advance in the Special Visual Effect category. Members of the SVFX chapter vote to determine the longlist and the nominations. In the final round of voting, all film voting members will vote for the overall winning film. 73 films were submitted for consideration. A supporting Statement and a show-reel of the SVFX work (up to five minutes in duration) can be submitted and are published on BAFTA View.

SOUND

10 films will advance in the Sound category Members of the Sound chapter vote to determine the longlist and the nominations. In the final round of voting, all film voting members will vote for the overall winning film. 172 films were submitted for consideration.

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION

Six films will advance in the British Short Animation category.  A jury votes to determine the longlist and the nominations. In the final round of voting, all film voting members are invited to join an opt-in chapter to vote for the overall winning short animation.

BRITISH SHORT FILM

Ten films will advance in the British Short Film category.  A jury votes to determine the longlist and the nominations. In the final round of voting, all film voting members are invited to join an opt-in chapter to vote for the overall winning short film.