Bafta to expand longlist for British film, voting rights in performance categories

Bafta has confirmed the categories, eligibility, voting rules and timeline for the 2027 EE Bafta Film Awards. 

On categories, eligibility and voting rules, the main changes are to outstanding British film and the four performance categories – expanding the longlist for the former, and giving voting rights to the casting chapter for the latter.

For outstanding British film, Bafta two years ago made this a category for all voters, rather than an opt-in chapter, and commentators have observed a mainstreaming of the longlists and nominations, resulting in 2025 and 2026.

The category remains for all voters, but now there will be a longlist of 20, instead of 15. The top five films will be automatically nominated, and a jury will select five from the remaining 15 to create the usual 10 nominations.

Last year, key UK indie films such as My Father’s Shadow, Wasteman and Urchin all missed the longlist of 15 for outstanding British film, and were thus ineligible to be nominated in the category.

A longer longlist of 20 should give such titles more of a chance in future.

For the four performance categories – lead and supporting actor and actress – the casting chapter will now participate in voting alongside the acting chapter, in both the longlisting and nominations rounds. 

Bafta points out that with 700 performances entered across the four acting categories last year, the viewing burden for voters is large. (Casting directors can typically be relied on to view widely and deeply among films submitted for awards.)

In recent years, the top seven choices of the acting chapter were automatically longlisted in each category, and a jury selected three more from the names ranked 8-13. 

For the 2027 awards, this jury will have more sway. The top five choices of the acting/casting chapters will be automatically longlisted in each category, and the jury will select another five per category, selected from those ranked 6-15 in the chapter vote.

Family film category

The children’s & family film category, introduced at the 2025 film awards following the ending of Bafta’s Children’s Awards ceremony, will now be renamed just family film.

This is a category that has come in for criticism in its first two years, given the low level of entries, and the significant overlap of nominees with the animated feature category.

Losing the word “children’s” from the category name should encourage more distributors to enter titles – including family-friendly documentary and live-action films.

Voting timeline

The announced timeline shows Bafta reverting to a similar dating pattern of past years, after the unusual occurrence last year of Bafta nominations announced after Oscar nominations.

In 2027, as in years prior to the 2026 awards, Bafta nominations will be announced ahead of Oscar nominations – with the two film academies announcing respectively on January 19 and January 21 2027. See below for Bafta’s full voting timeline. 

Rulebook changes

Today, Bafta also announced some rulebook clarifications and changes in relation to AI, industry standards, descriptive subtitles, and the Britishness of its British categories.

Regarding AI, the rulebook now states: “The Awards are presented annually to recognise, honour and reward individuals for outstanding human achievement in originating, shaping and realising the final artistic outcome, regardless of the tools used to bring this work to life. Where the use of Generative AI or other digital tools is relevant to the consideration of the work, BAFTA reserves the right to request additional information regarding the nature of such use and the extent of human creative involvement.”

Films will be required to provide descriptive subtitled versions before going live on BAFTA View, replacing the previous 10-day grace period and improving accessibility for members. Appeals will be considered.

Bafta is extending its measures to strengthen industry standards and accessibility. Reflecting Bafta’s commitment to levelling the playing field, bullying and harassment policies will continue to be mandatory for British productions. This will be extended in 2027, as Bafta aligns with the work of CIISA (Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority). Entrants will be expected to commit to consistently safe and inclusive working environments. The expectation is that this will become a requirement in future years. 

For outstanding British film, entrants will now be required to complete an interactive points tracker to assess eligibility for each entered film. General information about how a film has qualified as British in the category will now be provided to voters. 

2026 controversy

The 2026 Bafta Film Awards ceremony was overshadowed by the fallout from the racial slur and offensive language uttered involuntarily by Tourette Syndrome campaigner John Davidson, for which Bafta apologised “unreservedly” to actors Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo of Warner Bros’ Sinners.

Baehr addressed the steps the organisation has taken in the subsequent months in response to the independent review it commissioned following the incident.

“From that, a list of recommendations came through that we have worked on, various things about strengthening our operational and our escalation procedures, our contingency procedures, and we have worked on that,” she explained. 

“We’re going to continue to build on that. We work really closely with our stakeholders and partners to do that. It is just going to be more robust as we go forward.”

Baehr said all the studios were looking forward to working with Bafta for 2027, in what will be the 80^th anniversary edition of the awards.

“We’ve done our usual debriefs and spoken to all of them. We’re talking about all the entries that come in. Everyone’s very excited about all the new films coming through.”

Further reporting by Louise Tutt

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