Kneecap put on a very animated display as the Irish hip hop group descended on the 2025 EE British Academy Film Awards at London’s Royal Festival Hall on Sunday.
The hip hop trio, who were joined by the movie’s director Rich Peppiatt, have been tipped to win big after their controversial film was nominated for a whopping six awards.
Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh showcased his Irish pride as he donned a suit with depicting the country’s flag alongside a matching balaclava.
Meanwhile bandmates Naoise Ó Cairealláin and JJ Ó Dochartaigh cut causal figures and joked around with director Rich.
The movie maker wore a plaid suit with the band’s logo on the back of his blazer and at one point even had his bottom squeezed as they joked around ahead of the ceremony.
The storyline is based on a semi-fictionalised account of how the Belfast rap group came to be and follows the reaction to their performances – born from their love for the Irish language.
Kneecap put on a very animated display as the Irish hip hop group descended on the 2025 EE British Academy Film Awards at London’s Royal Festival Hall on Sunday
The hip hop trio, who were joined by the movie’s director Rich Peppiatt (second right) have been tipped to win big after their controversial film was nominated for a whopping six awards
The breakout movie is nominated for Best British Film, Best Editing, Film Not In The English Language, Best Original Screenplay, Best Casting, Best Debut – British Writer, Director or Producer.
Hollywood A-lister Michael Fassbender – who learnt Irish at the age of six – also stars in the movie which The Times described as ‘raucous’ and ‘stacked with politicised one-liners’.
An astonishing £1.6million of public money was used to fund the movie – despite the rap group being accused of glorifying the IRA and stoking sectarian hatred.
Victims of Republican and Loyalist terror atrocities said they were appalled that vast sums of public money and National Lottery cash was spent on the semi-autobiographical film.
The EE BAFTA 2025 Awards returns for an unmissable night of entertainment, celebrating the year’s best films and the creative talent who bring them to life.
After six years of being held at the Royal Albert Hall, the star-studded ceremony moved to a new home in 2023 – the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall – where it will once again take place.
The EE BAFTA Film Awards encompass 25 competitive categories which are decided by BAFTA members.
The show will feature some exciting new updates including a new Children’s & Family Film category which will celebrate the very best films appealing to inter-generational audiences
Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh (R) showcased his Irish pride as he donned a suit with depicting the country’s flag alongside a matching balaclava
Hollywood A-lister Michael Fassbender – who learnt Irish at the age of six – also stars in the movie which The Times described as ‘raucous’ and ‘stacked with politicised one-liners’
The new category is the first to be featured in five years marking the first new EE BAFTA Film Award in five years.
Another new feature will see an updated voting process has been introduced to the Outstanding British Film category.
Thriller Conclave takes the record for 12 nominations across all categories while Emilia Perez received 11 and The Brutalist had nine.
Back on home soil, Conclave has been nominated for twice as many gongs at the BAFTAs than it was last month at the Golden Globes in Los Angeles.
The hit thriller starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini is about a secretive and high-stakes election of a new Pope, where power, ambition, and personal secrets collide among the warring cardinals.
It has beaten the Golden Globes’ big winner, the Spanish drama Emilia Perez, which has come in second in the number of nominations with 11 BAFTA nods after sweeping up 10 gongs in the US award ceremony.
Gladiator 2 has yet again been snubbed by Award judges after it was shunned for Best Film and its leading man, the Irish star Paul Mescal, 28, failed to make the BAFTA longlist for Best Actor.
Demi Moore, 62, who picked up her first acting accolade ever at the Globes for her role in Substance has been nominated for Leading Actress along with Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo, 38, and Saoirse Ronan, 30, for the Outrun.
Film industry insiders believe the Ghost star’s admission into the BAFTA shortlist will raise her hopes of securing her first Oscar.
Elsewhere in the BAFTA nominations, the Succession brothers, Jeremy Strong and Keiran Culkin will battle it out for Supporting Actor for their performances in A Real Pain and the Trump biopic, The Apprentice.
Meanwhile, Adrien Brody’s film The Brutalist has received nine BAFTA nominations, followed by Dune 2 and Wicked – both getting seven nominations.
Marisa Abela leads the nominees for the EE BAFTA Rising Star Award for her portrayal as Amy Winehouse in the 2024 film Back To Black.
Ralph Fiennes has beaten box-office juggernauts Gladiator 2 and Wicked to win 12 BAFTA nominations including best actor and best film for his movie Conclave
Emilia Perez, starring Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez in its female-led ensemble cast, is making significant headway this awards season
Industry actress Marisa Abela leads the nominees for the EE BAFTA Rising Star Award for her portrayal as Amy Winehouse in the 2024 film Back To Black
The actress will battle with two of her Industry co-stars David Jonsson and Nabhaan Rizwan for the sought after gong. She posed for a picture with them at the nominations announcement
The shortlist, announced on Tuesday, is made up of Marisa, Jharrel Jerome (Unstoppable), David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus), Mikey Madison (Anora) and Nabhaan Rizwan (In Camera).
Coincidentally, David, Nabhaan and Marisa were all stars of BBC drama Industry.
BAFTA chairwoman Sara Putt told the PA news agency the BAFTA nominations list this year was ‘just such a brilliant variety.’
She added: ‘But then also, when you look at the 10 films in best film, I think you’ve got six different genres in there.
‘You’ve got sci-fi, you’ve got comedy, you’ve got horror… you’ve got straight drama, you’ve got musicals, and to see horror, with Nosferatu and The Substance and Heretic, all getting nominated.
‘You know, films with music in them that you can go from Wicked through to Kneecap. It’s an amazing list with real breadth and depth, which is very exciting.’
The award is seen as the pathway to A-list success with previous winners including Tom Holland, James McAvoy, Tom Hardy, Lashana Lynch and Kristen Stewart.
David Tennant will take to the stage to host the BAFTAs for a second year in a row.
The actor, 53, first hosted the awards show last year, taking over from Richard E Grant.
Actor David Tennant will take to the stage to host the BAFTAs for a second year in a row. The actor, 53, first hosted the awards show last year, taking over from Richard E Grant
He will no doubt be bringing his charisma and humour following a widely acclaimed debut that was watched by over 3.8m viewers at home.
More than 20 million views were clocked up through fans catching up on ceremony highlights on social media.
While Prince William, who is the president of the BAFTA, is usually accompanied by Catherine on the red carpet, the Waleses are not expected to attend this year’s ceremony.
Kate missed the awards last year weeks before she revealed in a video message on March 22 that she was suffering from cancer. Prince William walked the red carpet alone at the Baftas.
The 2025 EE Bafta Film Awards will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer at 7pm on Sunday February 16.
