Awards season continues with Baftas 2025 and Society of Camera Operators Awards

Awards season continues with two major ceremonies taking place in recent days anointing a range of winners.

The Baftas, Britain's version of the Academy Awards, have traditionally been thought to be the final audition for the Oscars which take place a mere two weeks afterwards. This year the big winner was Conclave, which won the awards for Best Film and Best Editing, though it did rather have to share the limelight with The Brutalist, which picked up gongs for Best Director and Cinematography among others.

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Much Oscar-nominated Emilia Pérez only managed to pick up two awards, one for Zoe Saldaña as Supporting Actress and one for Film not in the English language. Dune: Part Two also won two awards, one for Sound and the other for Special Visual Effects.

The fill list of winners is below and there are loads of acceptance videos here. So what does this say about the Oscars race 2025? 

Some years, such as 2024, the two events almost move in lockstep, with Oppenheimer dominating proceedings on both sides of the Atlantic. However, as The Guardian notes,  the tendency in recent years has been more for the two organisations to move apart. This follows the Baftas taking affirmative action in the wake of the #BaftasSoWhite controversy five years ago, when all of the 20 acting nominees were white.

"Quotas at longlist stage, strict inclusivity criteria for contention in certain categories and a compulsory menu of randomised viewing for each voter has led to a striking diversity among their choices," the paper says.

Given a current political climate in Hollywood best described as interesting, it will be fascinating to see which way the Oscars committee goes on March 2.

Bafta Award Winners 2025

Society of Camera Operators Awards

The Society of Camera Operators (SOC) Awards held at the Loews Hollywood Hotel on Saturday were less about the Oscars race and more simply honouring craft skills.

The recipient of Camera Operator of the Year in Film was P. Scott Sakamoto, SOC for A Complete Unknown, taken from a strong list of nominees including Challengers, Wolfs, Wicked, and Civil War. 

Camera Operator of the Year in Television recipients were Scott Dropkin, SOC for Yellowstone S5E14 Life is a Promise, with Abby Linne, SOC, B-Camera Operator, and Jed Seus, C-camera Operator. The field there was liable even stronger, including The Penguin, S1E4 Cent’Anni,  Mr. & Mrs. Smith, S1E1 First Date,  Fallout, S1E1 The End, and The Bear, S3E1 Tomorrow.

Recent events in LA were very much front and centre, and it will be interesting to see how this is replicated at the Oscars next month. The Governors’ Award was presented to the Los Angeles County Fire Department Air Operations Section, recognizing their heroic efforts in containing wildfires through strategic water drops. And the President’s Award honored James Ramos, KTLA Senior Staff News Videographer, and John Schreiber, CBS Los Angeles Photojournalist, for their exceptional frontline coverage.