Beyond the UK’s shores, it is fair to assume that attention is fitful for the outstanding British film Bafta – after all, the category is not indicative for other awards schemes such as the Oscars. However, the international nature of the UK film industry means the category is far from a local backwater. Take last year, for example, where , , , and eventual winner were all among the 10 nominees.
Those films achieved a collective 35 nominations at the Bafta Film Awards and 19 at the Academy Awards, with eight Bafta wins and six Oscars. Bafta voters’ outstanding British films of the year, in other words, were very much at the heart of the overall awards conversation. Outstanding British film (previously best British film) is one of only two Baftas reserved for UK features – the other being outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer, which is a wholly juried category.
For the local industry, the two awards give vital chances for their feature films to shine at a ceremony that, many grumble, is traditionally too dominated by US productions. For three of the titles nominated for outstanding British film last year, this was their only Bafta nomination: , and . Rounding out the category’s 10 nominees were (which also picked up a best actress Bafta nod for Vivian Oparah) and (additionally nominated for casting and outstanding British debut).
There are two paths to achieve one of the 10 outstanding British film nominations. A movie could be among the top fiv.
