The 79th British Academy Film Awards, colloquially known as the BAFTAs, took place Sunday evening.
Dubbed "Britain's biggest night in film," the BAFTAs spotlighted the best and brightest in movies over the past year in London, marking one of the final award shows ahead of the Academy Awards in March.
This year, some of the brightest stars in entertainment -- ranging from Michael B. Jordan to Emma Stone to Timothée Chalamet -- competed for the top acting prizes.
Meanwhile, films that have already stacked up statuettes this awards season, such as "One Battle After Another," "Hamnet" and "Sinners," notched several major wins.
The BAFTAs also recognized British film excellence with multiple categories, including outstanding British film.
Read on for everything to know about the 2026 BAFTAs, including some of the night's big winners.
The world's biggest stars gathered Sunday night for the 2026 BAFTAs, which were marked by some controversy and several high-profile wins.
"One Battle After Another" continued its winning streak this awards season, taking home six BAFTAs including best film, best director for Paul Thomas Anderson, best editing, best supporting actor for Sean Penn, best cinematography and best adapted screenplay.
"Sinners" also saw continued success after its historic Oscars nominations run, winning the BAFTA for best original screenplay, original score and best supporting actress for Wunmi Mosaku.
Robert Aramayo, star of "I Swear," pulled off perhaps the biggest upset of the night, winning the leading actor award over Timothée Chalamet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael B. Jordan and more.
The outstanding British film trophy went to Chloé Zhao's "Hamnet," starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, who took home the leading actress recognition.
See the complete winners list here.
Take a look at some the top looks from the BAFTAs red carpet.
The 2026 BAFTAs were held in London at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall on Sunday, Feb. 22.
The awards aired at 7 p.m. GMT on BBC One and BBC iPlayer within the U.K.
In North America, the ceremony aired on E! at 8 p.m. ET, according to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
The 2026 BAFTAs were hosted by film, television and theater legend -- and current host of the runaway hit reality series "The Traitors" -- Alan Cumming.
Cumming, known for his roles in "X2," "The Good Wife," and several "Cabaret" stage productions, was announced as the 2026 BAFTAs host in a December 2025 press release.
Cumming reacted to the news in a statement included in the release.
"How exciting to be back in the BAFTA fold, this time hosting the EE BAFTA Film Awards, a night like no other when we celebrate and honour creativity and craftsmanship -- and also hopefully have a laugh and create some mischief as we do so!" he said at the time.
Cumming was previously recognized with an outstanding contribution to film and television award by BAFTA Scotland in 2018.
The BAFTAs featured two special performances during Sunday's awards presentation, including the very first performance of "Golden," the hit song from "KPop Demon Hunters," outside the United States, according to BAFTA.
Additionally, singer Jessie Ware covered a "beloved" Barbra Streisand song during a planned "in memoriam" segment.
The star-studded list of presenters included names from across entertainment, including "The White Lotus" star Aimee Lou Wood, "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston, "Oppenheimer" star Cillian Murphy, "Sinners" star Delroy Lindo, "The Bride!" writer and director Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Stranger Things" star Sadie Sink, "Sinners" star Michael B. Jordan and more.
The BAFTA nominations were announced last month and closely reflected the nominees in contention for some of the top prizes across awards season thus far.
"One Battle After Another" led the way with 14 nominations total, including a leading actor nod for Leonardo DiCaprio.
Other films with multiple nominations included "Sinners" with 13, followed by "Hamnet" and "Marty Supreme" with 11 each.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts also previously highlighted first-time performance category nominees, including Jordan, Aramayo, Odessa A'zion, Rose Byrne, Chase Infiniti, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Stellan Skarsgård and Teyana Taylor.
Each year, the BAFTAs recognize excellence in film in specific categories geared toward British projects.
This year's outstanding British film category included the following nominees: "28 Years Later," "The Ballad of Wallis Island," "Bridget Jones: Mad about the Boy," "Die My Love," "H Is For Hawk," "Hamnet," "I Swear," "Mr Burton," "Pillion," and "Steve," with Zhao's "Hamnet" notching the win.
The nominees in the outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer category included "The Ceremony," "My Father's Shadow," "Pillion," "A Want In Her" and "Wasteman." "My Father's Shadow" walked away with the win.
Other categories included British short animation -- "Cardboard" and "Solstice" were nominated alongside "Two Black Boys in Paradise," which earned the statuette -- and British short film, whose nominees included "Magid / Zafar," "Nostalgie," "Terence," "Welcome Home Freckles," and the evening's winner, "This Is Endometriosis."
