BFI and British Consulate-General Toast Oscar Weekend as U.K. Scores Record 40 Nominations (EXCLUSIVE)
The British Film Institute (BFI) and the British Consulate-General Los Angeles are celebrating awards season, and a record-breaking one for U.K. cinema. U.K. productions and co-productions earned five best picture nominees and 40 total nominations at the upcoming Academy Awards.
To mark the occasion, BFI CEO Ben Roberts and His Majesty’s Consul General Paul J.G. Rennie, OBE, will host a pre-Oscars British Film Reception on March 13 at Soho House Holloway in Los Angeles, revealed to Variety exclusively.
Leading the U.K.’s charge this season is Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” the sweeping portrait of grief rooted in the life of William Shakespeare. The film features an almost entirely U.K. cast and creative team, including nominated producers Pippa Harris and Sam Mendes, composer Max Richter and production designer Alice Felton. Casting director Nina Gold makes history as the first British nominee for the newly created Academy Award for best casting. Irish actress Jessie Buckley is nominated for best actress (and if she wins as predicted, she’ll be the first ever to win the category), while Zhao and Northern Irish novelist Maggie O’Farrell — on whose book the film is based — share a best adapted screenplay nom. The film, shot in Herefordshire and Elstree Studios, is among three best picture nominees filmed at least partly on U.K. soil, alongside Joseph Kosinski’s “F1” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia.”
Five of the 10 best picture nominees are U.K. co-productions: “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” “F1,” “Bugonia” — funded by Film4 — and “Sentimental Value,” backed by BBC Film.
Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” commands the most nominations of any film in Oscar history with 16, and counts British performers Wunmi Mosaku (best supporting actress) and Delroy Lindo (best supporting actor) among its nominees. Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” features the late U.K. producer Adam Somner and composer Jonny Greenwood — also lead guitarist for multi-Grammy-winning band Radiohead — nominated for original score.
Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” supported by Screen Scotland, was filmed across Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Arbroath, Glencoe and English locations including Wilton House, Burleigh House and Elstree Studios. Based on the novel by British author Mary Shelley, the film is part of an established relationship between del Toro and British cinema. The director will receive a BFI Fellowship, the organization’s highest honor, in May 2026.
In the shorts category, writer-director Lee Knight’s “A Friend of Dorothy” — shot in London and starring Miriam Margolyes and Stephen Fry — is nominated for best live action short.
The BFI London Film Festival once again served as a critical launchpad for the awards season, with six of the 10 best picture nominees — “Bugonia,” “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” “The Secret Agent,” “Sentimental Value” and “Train Dreams” — premiering in the U.K. at this past year’s festival. All five best international feature film nominees — “It Was Just an Accident,” “Sirat,” “The Secret Agent,” “Sentimental Value” and “The Voice of Hind Rajab” — also screened there.
“We are excited by all the incredible talent nominated at this year’s Oscars and very proud of our U.K. nominees,” Roberts said in a statement. “As a co-producing nation, it’s great to see the U.K. playing such an important role in so many of the nominated films — from our world-class crews, iconic locations and studios to original stories that are rooted in our cultural heritage.”
The Academy Awards ceremony takes place on March 16 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
To mark the occasion, BFI CEO Ben Roberts and His Majesty’s Consul General Paul J.G. Rennie, OBE, will host a pre-Oscars British Film Reception on March 13 at Soho House Holloway in Los Angeles, revealed to Variety exclusively.
Leading the U.K.’s charge this season is Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet,” the sweeping portrait of grief rooted in the life of William Shakespeare. The film features an almost entirely U.K. cast and creative team, including nominated producers Pippa Harris and Sam Mendes, composer Max Richter and production designer Alice Felton. Casting director Nina Gold makes history as the first British nominee for the newly created Academy Award for best casting. Irish actress Jessie Buckley is nominated for best actress (and if she wins as predicted, she’ll be the first ever to win the category), while Zhao and Northern Irish novelist Maggie O’Farrell — on whose book the film is based — share a best adapted screenplay nom. The film, shot in Herefordshire and Elstree Studios, is among three best picture nominees filmed at least partly on U.K. soil, alongside Joseph Kosinski’s “F1” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Bugonia.”
Five of the 10 best picture nominees are U.K. co-productions: “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” “F1,” “Bugonia” — funded by Film4 — and “Sentimental Value,” backed by BBC Film.
Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” commands the most nominations of any film in Oscar history with 16, and counts British performers Wunmi Mosaku (best supporting actress) and Delroy Lindo (best supporting actor) among its nominees. Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” features the late U.K. producer Adam Somner and composer Jonny Greenwood — also lead guitarist for multi-Grammy-winning band Radiohead — nominated for original score.
Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” supported by Screen Scotland, was filmed across Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Arbroath, Glencoe and English locations including Wilton House, Burleigh House and Elstree Studios. Based on the novel by British author Mary Shelley, the film is part of an established relationship between del Toro and British cinema. The director will receive a BFI Fellowship, the organization’s highest honor, in May 2026.
In the shorts category, writer-director Lee Knight’s “A Friend of Dorothy” — shot in London and starring Miriam Margolyes and Stephen Fry — is nominated for best live action short.
The BFI London Film Festival once again served as a critical launchpad for the awards season, with six of the 10 best picture nominees — “Bugonia,” “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” “The Secret Agent,” “Sentimental Value” and “Train Dreams” — premiering in the U.K. at this past year’s festival. All five best international feature film nominees — “It Was Just an Accident,” “Sirat,” “The Secret Agent,” “Sentimental Value” and “The Voice of Hind Rajab” — also screened there.
“We are excited by all the incredible talent nominated at this year’s Oscars and very proud of our U.K. nominees,” Roberts said in a statement. “As a co-producing nation, it’s great to see the U.K. playing such an important role in so many of the nominated films — from our world-class crews, iconic locations and studios to original stories that are rooted in our cultural heritage.”
The Academy Awards ceremony takes place on March 16 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.