British Academy of Film and Television Arts

"BAFTA" redirects here. For other uses, see BAFTA (disambiguation).

BAFTA Awards
Awarded for	Excellence in Film, Television and Computer Gaming
Presented by	British Academy of Film and Television Arts
Country	United Kingdom
First awarded	1947
Official website	bafta.org

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.

Introduction

The British Film Academy was founded in 1947 by David Lean, Alexander Korda, Carol Reed, Laurence Olivier, Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, Roger Manvell and other leading figures in the British film industry.^[1] In 1958, the Academy merged with the Guild of Television Producers and Directors to form the Society of Film and Television Arts, which eventually became the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1976.

BAFTA is an independent charity with a mission to "support, develop and promote the art forms of the moving image, by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public". In addition to high-profile awards ceremonies BAFTA runs a year-round programme of educational events including film screenings, tribute evenings, interviews, lectures and debates with leading industry figures. BAFTA is supported by a membership of around 6500 people from the film, television and video game industries. BAFTA's main headquarters is on Piccadilly in London, but it also has branches in Scotland, in Wales, in New York and in Los Angeles.

These four branches of the Academy initially operated under their own brands (BAFTA Scotland, BAFTA Cymru, BAFTA East Coast and BAFTA LA). In July 2010, all branches of the Academy were brought together as one fully affiliated BAFTA.

The Academy's awards are in the form of a theatrical mask designed by American sculptor Mitzi Cunliffe, which was commissioned by the Guild of Television Producers and Directors in 1955. It has since become an internationally-recognised symbol of excellence in the art forms of the moving image.

In November 2007 a special tribute programme was shown on ITV in the UK celebrating 60 years of the organisation called 'Happy Birthday BAFTA'.

The Academy has been associated with the British monarchy since The Duke of Edinburgh became the British Film Academy's first president in the 1940s. The Earl Mountbatten of Burma and The Princess Royal have since held this position, and in 2010 The Duke of Cambridge became the newest Academy president.^[2]

Awards presented in London

Film

Main article: British Academy Film Awards

BAFTA's annual film awards ceremony is known as the British Academy Film Awards. It aims to reward the best work of any nationality seen on British cinema screens during the preceding year. Since 2008 the ceremony has been held at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden having previously taken place at the flagship Odeon cinema on Leicester Square since 2000. The ceremony previously took place in April or May, but from 2002 onwards has taken place in February, in order to precede the Oscars.

In order for a film to be considered for a BAFTA nomination its first public exhibition must be in a cinema and it must have a UK theatrical release for no fewer than seven days in the calendar year that corresponds to the upcoming awards. A film must be feature length and films from all countries are eligible in all categories, with the exception of Outstanding British Film, Outstanding Debut, Short Film and Short Animation which are for British films only.

Rising Star Award

Main article: Rising Star Award, BAFTA

Presented at the Orange British Academy Film Awards, the Orange Rising Star Award recognises exceptional new acting talent in the film industry. A shortlist of six nominees is selected by BAFTA juries regardless of the nominee's gender and nationality. The winner is then voted for by the public. This award is dedicated to the memory of Mary Selway, the highly respected BAFTA-winning British casting director who died in 2004.

Television

Main article: British Academy Television Awards

The British Academy Television Awards usually take place in April or May, with craft awards having a separate ceremony slightly later in the year.

The awards are also often referred to simply as "the BAFTAs" or, to differentiate them from the film awards, the "BAFTA Television Awards". They have been awarded annually since 1954. The first ever ceremony consisted of six categories. Until 1958, they were awarded by the Guild of Television Producers and Directors.

From 1968 until 1997, the BAFTA Film and Television awards were presented in one joint ceremony known simply as the BAFTA Awards, but in order to streamline the ceremonies from 1998 onwards they were split in two. The Television Craft Awards are presented for more technical areas of the industry, such as visual effects, production, and costume design.

The awards are only open to British programmes — with the exception of the audience-voted YouTube Audience Award — but any cable, satellite, terrestrial or digital television stations broadcasting in the UK are eligible to submit entries, as are independent production companies who have produced programming for the channels. Individual performances can either be entered by the performers themselves or by the broadcasters. The programmes being entered must have been broadcast on or between 1 January and 31 December of the year preceding the awards ceremony.

"Baftagate"

The 1991 awards were controversial when Prime Suspect beat G.B.H. to win the Best Drama Serial award. In what became known as "Baftagate",^[3] four of the jurors publicly declared that they had voted for G.B.H. and demanded to see the votes, but these had been destroyed.

Children's

Main article: British Academy Children's Awards

The British Academy Children's Awards are presented annually in November to reward excellence in the art forms of the moving image aimed at children. They have been awarded annually since 1969.

The Academy has a long history of recognising and rewarding children's programming, presenting two awards at the 1969 ceremony – The Flame of Knowledge Award for Schools Programmes and the Harlequin Award for Children's Programmes.

As of 2010 the Awards ceremony includes 19 categories across film, television, video games and online content. The 2009 Awards ceremony took place on 29 November at the London Hilton Hotel. BAFTA Children's Awards winners in 2009

Since 2007 the Children's Awards have included a Kids Vote Award voted by children under 14 and a CBBC Me and My Movie award, a children's filmmaking initiative to inspire and enable children to make their own films and tell their own stories.

Television Craft

Main article: British Academy Television Craft Awards

The Television Craft Awards are presented for the behind the camera skills involved television production. They have been awarded annually since 1999. In 2000 the awards were separated from the British Academy Television Awards. The Craft Awards also now include several categories associated with interactive media.

As of 2010, the awards included the following categories:

Breakthrough Talent Costume Design Director – Factual Director – Fiction Editing – Factual Editing – Fiction Interactive Creative Contribution Entertainment Production Team Makeup and Hair Design

Original Television Music Photography & Lighting – Fiction Photography – Factual Production Design Sound – Factual Sound – Fiction Titles Visual Effects Writer

The 2010 Television Craft Awards took place on 23 May. British Academy Television Craft Awards winners in 2010

Video Games

Main article: British Academy Video Games Awards

BAFTA first recognised video games and other interactive media at its inaugural BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards ceremony in 1998, ushering in the first change to its rules since the admittance of television thirty years earlier. Among the first winning games were GoldenEye 007, Gran Turismo and interactive comedy MindGym, sharing the spotlight with the BBC News Online website which won the news category four years running. These awards allowed the Academy to recognise new forms of entertainment that were engaging new audiences and challenging traditional expressions of creativity.

In 2003, the sheer ubiquity of interactive forms of entertainment and the breadth of genres and platforms in video games outgrew the combined ceremony, and the event was split into the BAFTA Video Games Awards and the BAFTA Interactive Awards.^[4] By December 2003 however, despite making huge headlines with high profile winners like Halo 2 and Half-Life 2 the interactive division was discontinued and disappeared from BAFTA's publicity material after only two ceremonies.

In 2006, BAFTA announced its decision "to give video games equal status with film and television", and the Academy now positions video games as its third pillar of activity in recognition of its importance as an art form of the moving image. The same year the ceremony was held at The Roundhouse by Chalk Farm Road in North London on 5 October and was televised for the first time on 17 October and was aired on the digital channel E4.

The 2011 ceremony took place on 16 March at the London Hilton Park Lane and was hosted by Dara Ó Briain. The full ceremony was filmed and streamed live online at the official BAFTA website.

Awards presented in Los Angeles

Britannia Awards

The BAFTA in Los Angeles Awards ceremony, the Britannia Awards, started in 1989 and happens in October / November each year. There are no awards given to films or TV programmes, only to individuals.

During the first ten years only one award was given at each event, called the "Britannia Award for Excellence in Film", but since 1999 the number of awards has grown.

In 2009 the Awards were: 'The Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film' (the original award was renamed in 2000 to honour Stanley Kubrick), 'The John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing' (added in 2003 in honour of John Schlesinger), the ‘Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year’, the ‘Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment’ and the ‘BAFTA in Los Angeles Volvo Humanitarian Award’. With the exception of the Stanley Kubrick and John Schlesinger awards, which are always given, both the number of awards and their titles may vary from year to year.

• 1989 - Albert R. Broccoli
• 1990 - Michael Caine
• 1991 - No award held
• 1992 - Peter Ustinov
• 1993 - Martin Scorsese
• 1994 - No award held
• 1995 - Anthony Hopkins
• 1996 - Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein
• 1997 - Dustin Hoffman
• 1998 - John Travolta

The 1999 Recipients were:

• Stanley Kubrick, Honoree for Excellence in Film
• Aaron Spelling, Honoree for Excellence in Television
• Tarsem Singh, Honoree for Excellence in Commercials Direction
• BBC, Honoree for Corporate Excellence

The 2000 Recipients were:

• Steven Spielberg - (Stanley Kubrick Britannia Awards for Excellence in Film)

The 2001/2002 Recipients were:

• George Lucas - (Stanley Kubrick Britannia Awards for Excellence in Film)
• HBO Original Programming - (The Britannia Award for Excellence in Television)

The 2003 Recipients were:

• Hugh Grant – (Stanley Kubrick Britannia Awards for Excellence in Film)
• Angela Lansbury (Britannia Award for Lifetime Achievement in Television and Film)
• Howard Stringer - (Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment)
• Peter Weir – (The John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing)

The 2004 Recipients were:

• Tom Hanks – (Stanley Kubrick Britannia Awards for Excellence in Film)
• Helen Mirren - (Britannia Award for Excellence in International Entertainment)
• Jim Sheridan – (The John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing)

The 2005 Recipients were:

• Tom Cruise – (Stanley Kubrick Britannia Awards for Excellence in Film)
• Elizabeth Taylor - (The Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in International Entertainment)
• Mike Newell – (The John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing)
• Ronald Neame - (The Cunard Britannia Award for Lifetime Contributions to International Film)

The 2006 recipients were:

• Sidney Poitier – (The Cunard Britannia Award for Lifetime Contributions to International Film)
• Rachel Weisz – (The Britannia Award for Artist of the Year)
• Anthony Minghella – (The John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing)

The 2007 recipients were:

• Denzel Washington – (Stanley Kubrick Britannia Awards for Excellence in Film)
• Martin Campbell – (The John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing)
• Kate Winslet – (The Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year)
• New Line Cinema's Bob Shaye & Michael Lynne – (Cunard Britannia Award for Lifetime Contributions to International Film)
• Richard Curtis – (The BAFTA/LA Humanitarian Award presented by Volvo)

The 2008 recipients were:

• Sean Penn - (Stanley Kubrick Britannia Awards for Excellence in Film)
• Tilda Swinton - (The Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year)
• Stephen Frears - (The John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing)
• Don Cheadle - (The BAFTA/LA Humanitarian Award presented by Volvo)

The 2009 Recipients were:

• Robert De Niro - (Stanley Kubrick Britannia Awards for Excellence in Film)
• Danny Boyle - (The John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing)
• Emily Blunt - (The Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year)
• Colin Firth - (The BAFTA/LA Humanitarian Award presented by Volvo)
• Kirk Douglas - (Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment)

The 2010 Recipients were:

• Jeff Bridges - (Stanley Kubrick Britannia Awards for Excellence in Film)
• Betty White - (Charlie Chaplin Britannia Award for Excellence in Comedy)
• Christopher Nolan - (The John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing)
• Ridley Scott and Tony Scott - (Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment)
• Michael Sheen - (The Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year)

The 2011 Recipients are:

• John Lasseter - (Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment)
• David Yates - (The John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing)^[5]
• Helena Bonham Carter - (Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year)^[6]

Awards presented in Scotland and in Wales

BAFTA in Scotland

BAFTA in Scotland is the branch of the Academy located in Glasgow, Scotland, mainly funded by the principal Scottish broadcasters. Formed in 1997, the BAFTA in Scotland branch holds an annual awards ceremony to recognise achievement by performers and production staff in Scottish film and television. The BAFTA Scotland Awards are separate from the UK-wide British Academy Television Awards and British Academy Film Awards, although films and programmes recognised by BAFTA in Scotland can also sometimes feature at BAFTA's UK awards. BAFTA Scotland Awards Winners in 2009

BAFTA in Scotland also holds an annual New Talent Awards ceremony focusing on new & emerging Scottish talent in the art forms of the moving image. New Talent Awards Winners in 2010.

BAFTA Cymru

BAFTA in Wales or BAFTA Cymru is the branch of the Academy located in Wales. Formed in 1991, it holds an annual awards ceremony to recognise achievement by performers and production staff in films and television programmes made in Wales. The BAFTA Cymru Awards are separate from the UK-wide British Academy Television Awards and British Academy Film Awards, although films and programmes recognised by BAFTA Cymru may also feature at BAFTA's national awards.

Presidents and Vice Presidents

Presidents

1. HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (1959–1965)
2. The Rt Hon The Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1966–1972)
3. HRH The Princess Royal (1973–2001)
4. The Rt Hon The Lord Attenborough (2001–2010)
5. HRH The Duke of Cambridge (2010–present)

Vice Presidents

1. The Rt Hon The Lord Attenborough (1973–1995)
2. The Rt Hon The Lord Puttnam (1995–2004)
3. Michael Grade (2004–2009)
4. Duncan Kenworthy (2009–present)
5. Sophie Turner Laing (2010–present)

See also

• 2011 BAFTA Ceremony
• 2010 BAFTA Ceremony
• 2009 BAFTA Ceremony
• 2008 BAFTA Ceremony
• BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award

Notes

1. ^ Lean's Letter to the Academy
2. ^ Prince William Appointed Academy President
3. ^ And the award won't go to... how Bafta lost its worst 'best' actress, The Scotsman, 5 November 2006
4. ^ Multimedia's best in Bafta battle – BBC News announces BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Award split; 1 December 2003
5. ^ "John Lasseter and David Yates set to be honored by BAFTA Los Angeles". Los Angeles Times. 28 June 2011. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/awards/2011/06/john-lasseter-and-david-yates-set-to-be-honored-by-bafta-los-angeles-.html. Retrieved 28 June 2011. 
6. ^ "Bonham-Carter to receive BAFTA LA honour". Cine Europa. Berlin Film Festival. http://cineuropa.org/2011/nw.aspx?t=newsdetail&l=en&did=207175. Retrieved 21 July 2011. 

External links

Media related to BAFTA Awards at Wikimedia Commons

• BAFTA official site
• BAFTA in Los Angeles site
• BAFTA in Wales site
• BAFTA in Scotland site
• BAFTA in New York site
• IMDB: BAFTA
• Follow BAFTA on Twitter
• Join BAFTA on Facebook