The Duke of Cambridge withdrew from this weekend’s BAFTA Awards following the death of his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh.
This year’s film awards will be handed out over two evenings in largely virtual ceremonies, with presenters attending the London Royal Albert Hall in person for Sunday’s broadcast.
Prince William, who is president of BAFTA, would perform in a pre-recorded conversation with costume designer Jenny Beavan and make-up and hair designer Sharon Martin on Saturday, talking about filming in the lock and the artwork of filmmaking.
On Sunday, he would deliver a video speech to celebrate the resilience of the film industry over the past year – but BAFTA has confirmed that he will no longer be attending the ceremony.
The Duke of Edinburgh, who died yesterday at the age of 99 at Windsor Castle, was BAFTA’s first president, who served from 1959 to 1965, and supported the organization all his life.
The Duke of Cambridge (pictured at the BAFTAs in 2020) withdrew from this weekend’s BAFTA Awards following the death of his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh.
Prince Phillip and Prince William are enjoying the photo of the build-up to the 2015 Rugby World Cup final between New Zealand and Australia at Twickenham Stadium on 31 October 2015 in London
BAFTA said in a statement: ‘In view of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, the Duke of Cambridge will no longer be part of the BAFTA programming this weekend. We think of the royal family, to whom we at present express our deepest sympathy ‘.
Among the British candidates for awards this year are Daniel Kaluuya, Vanessa Kirby and Riz Ahmed, with Saturday’s awards for crafts being broadcast on BBC Two during a ceremony hosted by Clara Amfo.
Actor, writer and director Noel Clarke will be honored with the Outstanding British Contribution to the Film Prize on Saturday during a performance that also features a performance by nominated candidate Leslie Odom Jr., who will sing Speak Now from his film One Night In Miami.
The main ceremony on Sunday 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 the BAFTA Society.
Presenters, including Hugh Grant, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Tom Hiddleston, will appear in person at the Royal Albert Hall, while nominees will virtually appear.
This year’s film awards will be handed out over two evenings in largely virtual ceremonies, with presenters attending the London Royal Albert Hall in person for Sunday’s broadcast. Pictured, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at the BAFTA Awards 2020)
Road movies Nomadland and drama Rocks are the leader of the various nominations, where four female filmmakers win the best director award.
Chadwick Boseman, who died last year at the age of 43 from complications related to colon cancer, received a posthumous BAFTA nomination for his performance as an ambitious trumpeter in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Ahmed is also nominated in the category of best actors for his role as drummer who lost his audience 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 slipping into dementia, and Mads Mikkelsen for another round.
The nominees for BAFTA are 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 absent from the shortlist in 2020, but this year four of the women are women, with nods to 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 afternoon when the Union Flag outside Buckingham Palace was half-mast. Pictured, Queen and Prince Philip in 2007
Kaluuya has been 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, who at eight years is the youngest BAFTA nominee ever.
His co-star, Yuh-Jung Youn, is nominated in the supporting role category, along with 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 BAFTA’s first president in 1959, one year after the British Film Academy and the Guild of Television Producers and Directors merged to form the Society of Film and Television Arts (SFTA). ) to create, a forerunner. of BAFTA.
He was also present at the official opening of BAFTA’s headquarters in London, after he and the Queen donated their share of the profits from the 1969 documentary Royal Family to the SFTA.
The opening night of the EE BAFTA Film Awards will be broadcast on BBC Two on 10 April at 20:00, while the EE British Academy Film Awards will be broadcast on BBC One on 11 April at 11:00.