Daniel Kaluuya, Vanessa Kirby and Riz Ahmed will be among the British contenders when the Bafta film awards are presented this weekend, without the winners and nominees present.
The gongs will be handed out over two nights in largely virtual ceremonies, but presenters will attend London’s Royal Albert Hall in person for the main event on Sunday.
The craft awards will be celebrated on Saturday on BBC Two in a ceremony hosted by Clara Amfo.
ONE WEEK until the @EE BAFTA Film Awards Opening Night! 8pm on @BBCTwo, hosted by @claraamfo. We'll celebrate some of the incredible people working on set whose work has been instrumental in creating the best films of the past year! #EEBAFTAshttps://t.co/S94TDBmwN7
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) April 3, 2021
The Duke of Cambridge, who is president of Bafta, withdrew from the ceremony on Saturday afternoon after his grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh – Bafta’s first president – died on Friday.
William was due to feature on Saturday in a pre-recorded conversation with costume designer Jenny Beavan and make-up and hair designer Sharon Martin, talking about filming in lockdown and the craft of film-making.
On Sunday, he was to deliver a speech, via video, celebrating the resilience of the film industry over the past year.
Actor, writer and director Noel Clarke will be recognised with the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award during the Saturday show, which will also feature a performance from supporting actor nominee Leslie Odom Jr, who will sing Speak Now from his film One Night In Miami.
The main show 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 honoured with the Bafta Fellowship.
We are excited to announce that ground-breaking contemporary filmmaker Ang Lee is to be honoured with the BAFTA Fellowship at the #EEBAFTAs this weekend! https://t.co/H3M9QZyTwl
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) April 6, 2021
William will also deliver a speech via video celebrating the resilience of the film industry over the past year.
Presenters, including Hugh Grant, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Tom Hiddleston, will appear in person at the Royal Albert Hall, while nominees will appear virtually.
Road movie Nomadland and coming-of-age drama Rocks lead the diverse nominations, where four female film-makers are in the running for the best director prize.
Chadwick Boseman has received a posthumous Bafta nomination for his performance as an ambitious trumpeter in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
.@chadwickboseman became a first-time #EEBAFTAs nominee with his last movie, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. His character, Levee, is a talented but temperamental trumpet player frustrated by the opportunities granted to him. Have you seen @MaRaineyFilm yet? pic.twitter.com/VCpVUrrJSr
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) April 3, 2021
He died aged 43 last August due to complications related to colon cancer.
Also nominated in the best actor category is Ahmed for his role as a drummer who loses his hearing 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 drama The Father, about a man slipping into dementia, and Mads Mikkelsen for Another Round.
The nominees in the leading actress Bafta category 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.
Here are 5 of our #EEBAFTAs Leading Actress nominees, watch along now and submit your questions! ❓ https://t.co/br5B16bENf
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) March 31, 2021
Female directors were entirely absent from the shortlist in 2020 but this year four of the six are women, with nods going 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.
Kaluuya is nominated for his role as Black Panther leader Fred Hampton in Judas And The Black Messiah, and he 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 is the youngest ever Bafta nominee at eight years old.
His co-star, Yuh-Jung Youn, is nominated in the supporting actress category, alongside 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 EE Bafta Film Awards Opening Night will air on April 10 at 8pm on BBC Two.
The EE British Academy Film Awards will air at 7pm on BBC One on April 11.