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The arts charity for film, games and TV

We want people, from all backgrounds to achieve their creative dreams. Find out what programmes we have available to help.

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An essential industry membership that gives you the chance to be part of an inspiring global film, games and TV community.

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Celebrating the very best creative talent from the worlds of film, games and TV.

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A Rich
Heritage

Our story began over 75 years ago. As one of the first independent arts charities, we have a rich heritage of supporting, inspiring and celebrating storytellers in film, games and TV. 

Creating a
Home For
Creative Talent

Our story began in 1947 when a group of well-known filmmakers, brought together by producer Sir Alexander Korda, formed the British Film Academy.

Their idea – to create an organisation that would “advance the art and technique of film". Director David Lean was appointed the Academy’s first Chair and the rest, as they say, is history. Explore the story of our iconic first Chair.

BAFTA is a membership organisation whose membership has grown from a little over 70 in 1947 to over 12,000 today.

Heather Sears. A woman with short bobbed hair smiling while holding a BAFTA award.
Credit: BAFTA
Heather Sears, winner of the British Actress Award for her performance in ‘The Story of Ester Costello’ (1957), at the British Film Academy Awards & World Premiere of 'The Silent Enemy', held on 6 March 1958 at the Odeon Theatre Leicester Square, London. Credit: BAFTA
A group of people sat on wooden chairs around a table, smiling.
Credit: BAFTA
Guests at the British Film Academy Awards, 18 March 1959, held at The Savoy, London. Credit: BAFTA
A woman wearing a long dark coat holding a booklet attending a photography exhibition.
Credit: BAFTA
The first exhibition to be organised by the Academy consisting of film stills was held at the National Book League Galleries during the month of May 1948. Credit: BAFTA
Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir Michael Balcon. Two men shaking hands.
Credit: BAFTA.
Sir Laurence Olivier, Sir Michael Balcon in 1949. Credit: BAFTA
Alec Guiness and Virginia McKenna. A man wearing a suit holding an award.
Credit: BAFTA

Bringing Industry Talent
Together

Since the early days, our passion and ambition for supporting and progressing the creative industries has grown and grown.

Eleven years after we were first formed as the British Film Academy we joined forces with the Guild of Television Producers and Directors to become The Society of Film and Television Arts. Prince Phillip was our first President of the Academy – the post that Prince William now holds today.

Then we welcomed those working in games and interactive entertainment into our fold of members, launching the BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards in 1998 and then the Games Awards in 2004.

Today, we are known around the world as champions of creative talent. We host yearly celebrations of the achievements of those working in film, games and TV, and run well-established world-class learning and events programmes across the UK and North America.

Stephen Fry. A man sat at a table next to a man speaking, who is wearing glasses.
Credit: BAFTA
Stephen Fry (right) and guests attend the BBC 60th Anniversary Presentation held at 195 Piccadilly, December 1996. Credit: BAFTA
Three men wearing suits, the one closest to camera is holding a pair of glasses.
Credit: ©George Konig/BFI National Archive An early meeting of the British Film Academy Council at the British Film Academy (BFA) Offices, 117 Piccadilly, London on 9 February 1949 From left to right: Paul Rotha (Vice-Chairman), Michael Powell, & Frank Launder Images courtesy ©BFI National Archive
A woman wearing a black coat holding a booklet
Screenshot
Miss Olga Edwardes, under contract to London Films, visits the British Film Academy Stills Exhibition at 7. Albemarle Street, W.1 in May 1948. Credit: BAFTA
A man with slicked back hair and a thin moustache wearing a suit, reading a booklet and standing in front of a display of screenshots from Anna Karenina.
Screenshot
Mr. Guy Middleton, under contract to London Films, visits the British Film Academy Stills Exhibition at 7. Albemarle Street, W.1 in May 1948. Credit: BAFTA
The Duke of Edinburgh and Charlie Chaplin. A man wearing a suit smiles and shakes the hand of a man wearing glasses sat in a wheelchair.
Credit: BAFTA/Michael J. Barrett
Jack Hawkins with Leslie Caron in 1960. A man wearing a suit looking at a smiling woman wearing a dress.
Credit: BAFTA
A woman with short hair wearing a floral dress is sat at a table and looking down while smiling.
Anthony Havelock Allan, Audrey Hepburn. A man wearing a black suit and glasses shakes the hand of a woman wearing a sleeveless pale dress.
Credit: BAFTA
Mel Ferrer and Audrey Hepburn. A man wearing a suit next to a woman with hair in an updo and a pale sleeveless dress.
Credit: BAFTA
A woman and two men sit at a dinner table.
Two men shaking hands.
A large building.

Our home,
195 Piccadilly

In the early 1970s Her Majesty the Queen gifted the royalties from a Richard Cawston documentary to us. This would become a major turning point. Still known as The Society of Film and Television Arts at that time, the support enabled us to move from an office suite in Great Portland Street to create a home for members at 195 Piccadilly and embrace a new name at the same time.

The 1976 opening of our first permanent home for members, attended by Her Majesty, was when we officially became known as the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

In the years since we opened our first home for members in London we have branched out to n to create offices in Glasgow, Cardiff and Los Angeles.

*On 4 April 2013 Queen Elizabeth was presented with an honorary award in recognition of her outstanding patronage of the film and television industries. Find out more about the honorary Award Presented to Queen Elizabeth. We were deeply saddened by the death of Queen Elizabeth, whose close association with the Academy spanned 50 years.

195 Piccadilly
A cinema screen with a stage at the far end and rows of gold seats. Small circular screens hang from the ceiling at the sides of the room.
Credit: BAFTA
A large building with cars and a red London bus driving past.
HM Queen Elizabeth II and Charlie Chaplin. A woman with dark curled hair, wearing a patterned dress with a black handbag on her arm, shakes the hand of a man with white hair and glasses.
Credit: BAFTA/Michael J. Barrett

Close Royal
Connections

BAFTA has enjoyed a long history of involvement and support from the Royal Family dating back to 1959, when HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, was appointed its first President. The appointment came a year after The British Film Academy (founded 1947) and the Guild of Television Producers and Directors merged to create the Society of Film and Television Arts (‘SFTA’, a forerunner of BAFTA).

The Earl Mountbatten of Burma, The Duke of Edinburgh’s uncle, then took over the organisation’s presidency from 1966 to 1972. The Earl Mountbatten, a man who at the time was of significant national stature, and a man of cinema in his own right, is credited with bringing films to King George’s ships in the early 20s and designing the conversion system to turn all the ships’ projectors to take ‘talkies’ after the silent film era.

Then in 1972 Princess Anne became the organisation’s third president in its history, taking over from The Earl Mountbatten of Burma. In 1976, the year that the SFTA was renamed BAFTA, the first ‘BAFTA award’ – the bronze mask based on the original design by Mitzi Cunliffe – was presented by Princess Anne to Sir Charles Chaplin in honour of his Fellowship.

Over the course of her 30-year involvement with the Academy, Princess Anne helped increase the stature of the organisation in the UK and internationally at a time when film and television were not considered in the same spectrum as dance, theatre and opera. She represented BAFTA internationally. In 1985, she opened A Royal Day of Film and Television, held at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles. In 2001, when she stepped down as president, BAFTA was an international organisation, with branches in New York and Los Angeles, as well as Scotland and Wales. The main cinema theatre at BAFTA’s headquarters, 195 Piccadilly, was renamed The Princess Anne Theatre in her honour.

See more pictures tracing our Royal Connections
HM Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Mother. A woman with dark curled hair, a brown fur coat and a red and black dress, next to a woman wearing a green velvet coat and hat.
Credit: BAFTA
The Duke of Edinburgh and Charlie Chaplin. A man wearing a suit smiles and shakes the hand of a man wearing glasses sat in a wheelchair.
Credit: BAFTA/Michael J. Barrett
HRH Queen Elizabeth II. A woman with a yellow floral dress and hat with two men in suits at either side.
Credit: BAFTA
Prince William, a man with short hair wearing a navy jacket, sits in an auditorium with blue seats listening to four women. Two are sat in the same row as Prince William, two are in the row above.
Credit: BAFTA/Scott Garfitt
A group of people sat on chairs around a circular glass table, chatting and smiling.
Credit: BAFTA/Scott Garfitt
A black and white image of an audience with a focus on a man and woman in the middle. The couple are HRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Credit: BAFTA/Guy Levy

Ongoing Royal Support

Today, HRH Prince William, The Prince of Wales is our President. Since his appointment in February 2010, The Prince of Wales has supported BAFTA through attendance of its Awards and engaging in our learning and new talent activity.

Over the course of his presidency, the Prince of Wales has generously offered his time to help BAFTA raise awareness of our charitable activity. This has included setting up a scholarship. In 2013, at the official opening of the Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, HRH The Prince of Wales announced the launch of Prince William Scholarships in Film, Television and Games, supported by BAFTA and Warner Bros.

“I’m extremely proud of the work BAFTA undertakes to provide opportunities and support for talented people to develop successful careers in games, film and television”
HRH Prince William
Prince of Wales

Transforming
our
Headquarters

Following a major redevelopment project, in 2022 we re-opened BAFTA 195 Piccadilly as a state-of-the–art space to better serve our members and the next generation of film, games and TV talent.

A flight of stairs.
Three men wearing high vis look up in a room with scaffolding.
A man wearing a high vis jacket and hard hat walks through a room with bare brick walls.
A group of people smiling and holding BAFTA masks.
Credit: Shutterstock/Dave Fisher

The BAFTA Awards

We have been honouring the best British and international contributions to film since our first Awards ceremony held at the Odeon Leicester Square in 1949.

In 1949 just five awards were presented; Best film from any source (British or Foreign); Best British film; Best Documentary film; a Special Award and the United Nations Award.

The first live broadcast of the awards took place in 1956 , when actress Vivien Leigh presented the awards.

Since then we have also grown to recognise games and TV creatives too. Now we are proud to say we have awards for Film, Games, TV, TV Craft, and in Scotland and Wales.

Discover our awards
Tom Hiddleston. A man wearing a black suit jacket and bow tie with a white shirt holding a gold BAFTA mask.
Credit: BAFTA/Guy Levy
A woman with shoulder length hair displaying an early BAFTA award.

Lights, Camera, Action

So many people have helped to shape BAFTA over the years. Giving their time to help guide our activities and ensure our historical significance within the film, games, and television industries. This is our celebration of some BAFTA Greats.

Delve into a series of interviews below, reflecting on the life and careers of individuals, ranging from BAFTA Fellows to former Academy Chairs, that have helped to shape our organisation and activity.

A proud heritage

Our heritage plays an important role in informing both the present and future of the Academy.

That’s why we are proud to say our membership draws a direct line from founding members Michael Balcon, Paul Rotha, Anthony Asquith, Thorold Dickinson, Frank Lauder, David lean, Michael Powell, Alexander Korda and Carol Reed, plus first female members Muriel Box, Mary Field and Clemence Dane, to the up-and-coming talent of today.