As entries open for the 2025 BAFTA Film Awards, the organization has unveiled several key changes, including a brand-new category and a points system for determining outstanding British film eligibility.
Beginning next year, the BAFTA Film Awards will include an honor for best children’s and family film, marking the ceremony’s first new category in five years. According to a press release, the award will “celebrate the very best films appealing to inter-generational audiences” and “profile the essential creative contributions of the children’s media sector.”
The rules for outstanding British film are also changing, with a new points system being introduced to determine a movie’s eligibility. According to BAFTA, this will include criteria such as “nationality of the candidates for nomination, key department heads and cast, alongside collating information about co-productions, BFI cultural test, setting, source material and the new Independent Film Tax Credit.”
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In addition, the category will now be voted on by all BAFTA film voters starting at the longlist stage, aligning with the voting process for best film. The top five films of the 15 longlisted will automatically be nominated, and a jury will determine the remaining five nominations.
Another key change is that the nominating juries that were put in place during the 2020 BAFTA Review are being phased out in the directing and performance categories. Starting next year, BAFTA’s directing chapter will determine the category’s longlist and nominations in entirety. The longlist is also being reduced from 16 to a maximum of 11 in alignment with other major categories — it will be set at 10, but could increase to 11 if a director who identifies as non-binary or gender diverse and/or any mixed-gender directing teams rank within the voting results range as per 2020’s gender parity intervention.
The performance categories — which comprise leading actress and actor and supporting actress and actor — will be determined by a combination of jury, chapter and all film member voting. The longlists will continue to be determined by BAFTA’s acting chapter and a longlisting jury, but all nominations will now be decided entirely by the acting chapter. Previously, a nominating jury decided three out of the six nominees in each performance category.
Also included in the updated rulebook are expanded theatrical requirements for best film, which were announced in December. Contenders must be theatrically exhibited for the first time on at least 50 screens in the U.K. for at least seven days, which is equivalent to 350 screenings. The previous mandate was 10 screenings per day for seven days.
The definition of what qualifies as a documentary has also been tweaked to the following: “documentary can be defined as a predominantly non-fiction film intended for theatrical release. documentary footage is classed as photographed in actual occurrence, but may also include animation, archive footage, stills, stock footage, stop-motion, re-enactment and/or other techniques. It should deal creatively with artistic, cultural, economic, historical, political, social, scientific and/or other themes. Dramatized factual subjects will not qualify.” Voters will be asked to opt-in to the documentary chapter afresh, a jury will be employed to to determine three out of five nominees and all voters will now select the winner as opposed to the chapter.
In the animation and non-English-language film categories, voters are also being asked to opt-in afresh to determine the longlist and nominees. All film voters will now determine the winners, as opposed to the chapter.
Screenwriters with “story by” credits will now be included as named nominees in the screenplay category, and a new qualifying festivals list for the British short animation category will be introduced.
“Four years ago, we rolled out the most comprehensive set of Awards interventions in BAFTA’s history to level the playing field for talented creatives working in the screen arts,” BAFTA chair Sara Putt said in a statement. “We’ve seen the impact of those changes in the four years of entry and voting data since – from more BAFTA voters watching more films than ever before to more women directors being nominated in the last four years than in BAFTA’s 77-year history. And our membership is now more diverse and better represents the talented people in our industry. There is still a long way to go. The mission we set out in the 2020 BAFTA Review continues to be at the heart of our annual rules, eligibility updates and membership advocacy – so that our Awards remain relevant, that they encourage positive industry change, and continue to champion and celebrate the very best in film making.”
Key dates for the 2025 Film Awards have also been revealed, with the ceremony taking place on Feb. 16. See the full timeline below.
Aug. 2 — Entries open
Dec. 6 — Round one voting opens (for longlists)
Jan. 3 — Longlists publish, round two voting opens (for nominations)
Jan. 15 — Nominations announced
Jan. 22 — Round three voting opens (for winners)
Feb. 16 — BAFTA Film Awards ceremony
