The Duke of Cambridge withdrew from this weekend’s BAFTA coverage after the death of his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh.
This year’s film awards will be handed out over two nights in mostly virtual ceremonies, with presenters personally attending the Royal Albert Hall in London for Sunday’s broadcast.
Prince William, who is the president of BAFTA, was due to appear on Saturday in a pre-recorded conversation with costume designer Jenny Beavan and makeup and hair designer Sharon Martin, talking about block filming and the craft of the film.
On Sunday, he was to give a video, celebrating the resilience of the film industry over the past year – but the BAFTA has confirmed it will no longer attend the ceremony.
The Duke of Edinburgh, who died yesterday at Windsor Castle at the age of 99, was the first president of the BAFTA, from 1959 to 1965, and continued to support the organization throughout his life.
The Duke of Cambridge (pictured at BAFTA in 2020) withdrew from BAFTA coverage this weekend after the death of his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Phillip and Prince William enjoyed preparations for the final match of the 2015 Rugby World Cup between New Zealand and Australia at Twickenham Stadium on 31 October 2015 in London
BAFTA said in a statement: “In light of the Duke of Edinburgh’s move, the Duke of Cambridge will no longer be part of the BAFTA program this weekend. Our thoughts are with the royal family, to whom we offer our deepest sympathy at this time. ‘
British contestants for this year’s awards include Daniel Kaluuya, Vanessa Kirby and Riz Ahmed, Saturday’s craft awards broadcast on BBC Two in a ceremony hosted by Clara Amfo.
Actor, writer and director Noel Clarke will be recognized on Saturday with the “Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema” Award, in a show that will also feature a performance by nominated supporting actor Leslie Odom Jr., who will sing Speak Now from his film One Night In Miami.
Sunday’s main ceremony will be hosted by Dermot O’Leary and Edith Bowman, when the remaining 17 awards will be presented, and director Ang Lee will be honored with a BAFTA Fellowship.
Presenters, including Hugh Grant, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Tom Hiddleston, will appear in person at the Royal Albert Hall, while the candidates will appear in person.
This year’s film awards will be handed out over two nights in mostly virtual ceremonies, with presenters personally attending the Royal Albert Hall in London for Sunday’s broadcast. Pictured, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the BAFTA Awards 2020)
The road movie Nomadland and the old drama Rocks lead the various nominations, in which four female directors are competing for the award for best director.
Chadwick Boseman, who died at the age of 43 in August last year from complications from colon cancer, received a posthumous BAFTA nomination for his performance as an ambitious trumpeter at the bottom of Ma Rainey.
Also nominated for Best Actor is Ahmed for his role as a drummer in Sound Of Metal, as well as Adarsh Gourav for The White Tiger, Tahar Rahim for The Mauritanian, Sir Anthony Hopkins for his turn in the drama The Father, about a man sneaking into dementia and about Mads Mikkelsen for Another Round.
BAFTA main actress nominations include Bukky Bakray for Rocks, Radha Blank for The Forty-Year-Old Version, Kirby for Pieces of a Woman, Frances McDormand for Nomadland, Wunmi Mosaku for His House and Alfre Woodard for Clemency.
Female directors were completely shortlisted in 2020, but this year four of the six are women, with the signs of Shannon Murphy for Babyteeth, Jasmila Zbanic for Quo Vadis, Aida ?, Sarah Gavron for Rocks and Chloe Zhao for Nomadland, as well as Thomas Vinterberg for Another Round and Lee Isaac Chung for Minari.
The Queen announced the death of her husband, Prince Philip, on Friday at noon, when the Union Flag was lowered halfway off the mast outside Buckingham Palace. In the photo, Queen and Prince Philip in 2007
Kaluuya is nominated for his role as Black Panther leader Fred Hampton in Judas And The Black Messiah and will compete against Leslie Odom Jr. for One Night In Miami, Clarke Peters for Da Five Bloods, Paul Raci for Sound Of Metal, Barry Keoghan for Calm With Horses and Minari actor Alan Kim, the youngest BAFTA nominee ever at eight.
Her cast, Yuh-Jung Youn, is nominated for Supporting Actress, alongside Niamh Algar for Calm With Horses, Kosar Ali for Rocks, Maria Bakalova for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Dominique Fishback for Judas and the Black Messiah and Ashley Madekwe for County Lines. .
The Duke of Edinburgh, who died on Friday at the age of 99, became the first president of the BAFTA in 1959, a year after the British Film Academy and the Guild of Producers and Directors of Television merged to form the Society of Film and Television Arts. (SFTA), a precursor to BAFTA.
He was also present at the official opening of the BAFTA headquarters in London, after he and the queen gave their SFTA share of the profits from the 1969 documentary The Royal Family.
The opening night of the EE BAFTA Film Awards will be broadcast on April 10 at 20:00 on BBC Two, while the EE British Academy Film Awards will be broadcast on 19 April on BBC One on April 11.