- The Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall to host the world’s leading film talent on Sunday 19 February 2023
- EE BAFTA Film Awards to be broadcast on BBC One and worldwide
- Entries open today
LONDON, 21 September: Today, BAFTA unveils London’s Royal Festival Hall as its new home for one of the biggest nights in the global film calendar. The EE BAFTA Film Awards brings British and international talent together to celebrate the incredible ingenuity and creativity of film, and the people who bring them to life on both sides of the screen. The move will see BAFTA programme its most ambitious and accessible night yet, bolstered by a refreshed production and format. With entries opening today, the countdown to 19 February 2023 officially begins.
The Southbank Centre’s monumental Royal Festival Hall, opened by King George VI and HRH Princess Elizabeth on 3 May 1951 is located in the heart of London on the River Thames. BAFTA’s legendary red carpet will roll out at the UK’s largest arts centre next to some of the capital’s most famous landmarks, from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament to the National Theatre, BFI and the London Eye.
The ceremony will be broadcast on BBC One, BBC One HD, BBCiPlayer, and syndicated globally. Red carpet interviews with nominees and guests will be streamed live across BAFTA and BBC’s social channels, offering audiences an exclusive front row seat as talent arrive. Further details including host for the 2023 Awards, will be announced at a later date.
Emma Baehr, Executive Director of Awards and Content, said: “The EE BAFTA Film Awards are a global spotlight on the most exciting, innovative and creative stories being told in Britain and around the world, as well as playing host to the world’s biggest stars and a variety of unforgettable moments. The Royal Albert Hall has been a wonderful home to us for the last six years. As we embark on the next chapter in an incredibly exciting year for film, we can’t wait to kick off our new residency at the Royal Festival Hall with BAFTA’s most ambitious celebration yet.”
Anna Higgs, Chair of BAFTA Film Committee, said: “After months of painstaking preparations we are delighted to officially open entries for the 2023 EE BAFTA Film Awards. With the impressive calibre and creativity of films already on release, or on the way, our members in the UK and around the world have a phenomenal awards season ahead. Celebrating excellence, championing the value of the screen industries, and driving positive change through ensuring a level playing field continue to be at the heart of what BAFTA does – so we can’t wait to get going on voting and celebrating another fantastic year for film.”
Elaine Bedell, CEO of the Southbank Centre, said: “I’m delighted that this cements the partnership between BAFTA and the Southbank Centre, as we’re also home to BAFTA’s TV and Games Awards. BAFTA’s decision to bring three Awards ceremonies under one roof underscores the variety, scale and creative potential of our spaces to programme a spectacular evening, for everyone. We’re delighted to support the vitally important screen industries and are so excited to see the Southbank Centre transformed for one of the biggest nights in the global film calendar.”
Celebrating excellence, nurturing the next generation of talent and creating a level playing field in film, games and television is at the heart of BAFTA’s mission as an arts charity. Films in contention will be decided by BAFTA’s global membership, via a robust and carefully audited process that involves three rounds of voting, with nominations unveiled on 19 January 2023. Audiences at home will also be invited to vote on their favourite breakout talent, via the prestigious EE Rising Star Award.
The EE BAFTA Film Awards have been a core part of the charity’s mission to identify and celebrate creative excellence since its inception 75 years ago. Previous venues include the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Opera House and the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square, London. With a new CEO Jane Millichip starting next month, and a major redevelopment of BAFTA’s HQ completed earlier this year, 2022 marks an exciting year of transformation and renewal for the organisation.
ENDS
For further information:
Catherine Poust, PR and Communications Manager at BAFTA
Notes to Editors:
- Photography of the Royal Festical Hall can be found on BAFTA's image library here.
- Entries open today. The key dates first set out earlier this year are as follows:
26 July – Rulebook published
21 September – Entries Open
14 November – Final Entry Deadline
9 December – Voting Opens
6 January 2023 – Longlist Revealed
19 January – Nominations Announced
19 February – EE BAFTA Film Awards Ceremony
- For more information about the EE BAFTA Film Awards including how to enter, please visit our website here.
About BAFTA
BAFTA – the British Academy of Film and Television Arts - is a world-leading independent arts charity that brings the very best work in film, games and television to public attention and supports the growth of creative talent in the UK and internationally. Through its Awards ceremonies and year-round programme of learning events and initiatives – which includes workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures and mentoring schemes in the UK, USA and Asia – BAFTA identifies and celebrates excellence, discovers, inspires and nurtures new talent, and enables learning and creative collaboration. For more, visit www.bafta.org. BAFTA is a registered charity (no. 216726).
About EE
EE runs the UK's biggest and fastest mobile network, offering superfast connections in more places than any other operator. EE brought the first 4G network to the UK in October 2012 and launched the UK’s first 5G network in May 2019.
EE has received extensive independent recognition, including being named the UK’s no.1 5G network by RootMetrics® in 2020 and being named the UK's best network every year since 2014 for the following awards: The Mobile Choice Awards, The Mobile Industry Awards and by RootMetrics®.
As well as offering mobile services to consumers and small and medium businesses, EE also provides home and business broadband using both 4G and fixed line connections.
EE is committed to being number one for service in the industry and has nearly 600 shops across the UK. EE remains the only mobile provider to answer 100% of customer calls in the UK and Ireland and was recognised as the UK’s Best Large Contact Centre by the UK Customer Experience Awards 2018 and Welsh Contact Centre Awards 2019. EE was awarded The Sunday Times’ Best 100 Companies to Work for in 2018 and 2019, as well as being named Best Employer 2018 by the European Contact Centre & Customer Service awards.
EE is part of BT’s Consumer business unit which provides products and services to all of BT’s consumer customers in the UK. Follow us on:
Facebook at: www.facebook.com/ee
Twitter at: www.twitter.com/ee
YouTube at: www.youtube.com/ee
LinkedIn at: www.linkedin.com/company/ee-uk
About The Southbank Centre
The Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre occupying a prominent riverside location that sits in the midst of London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. We exist to present great cultural experiences that bring people together and we achieve this by providing the space for artists to create and present their best work and by creating a place where as many people as possible can come together to experience bold, unusual and eye-opening work. We want to take people out of the everyday, every day. The site has an extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain. The Southbank Centre is made up of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery as well as being home to the National Poetry Library and the Arts Council Collection. It is also home to six Resident Orchestras (Aurora Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Philharmonia Orchestra). For more, visit www.southbankcentre.co.uk/
