Bafta Best Pictures -1947 - 2021- May 2026

By the 1970s, BAFTA began to mirror the Academy Awards, but with better taste. The Godfather (1970? Actually The Godfather won in 1973) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1976) are undeniable masterpieces. However, the real revelation is how often BAFTA chose the better film over the Oscar winner. In 1982, they awarded Chariots of Fire —a quintessentially British victory. But in 1986, while the Oscars went with Out of Africa , BAFTA chose Hannah and Her Sisters —a sharper, more intelligent pick.

The results were immediate and thrilling. Roma (a Spanish-language black-and-white epic). 2020: 1917 (a technical marvel, but a safe return to war epics). But then came 2021: Nomadland . Chloe Zhao became the first woman of color to win Best Director and Best Film. It was a quiet, nomadic, deeply American story that BAFTA crowned just as the world emerged from lockdown. It felt less like a prize and more like a eulogy for lost stability. BAFTA Best Pictures -1947 - 2021-

The Third Man (1950), The Crying Game (1993), Nomadland (2021). By the 1970s, BAFTA began to mirror the

Reviewing 75 years of BAFTA winners is an exercise in contradictions. They gave us The Apartment (1961) but also Mississippi Burning (1989—a deeply problematic choice). They championed The French Connection (1972) but ignored Pulp Fiction (1995—it lost to Forrest Gump ). However, the real revelation is how often BAFTA

The 1990s brought the “Prestige Plague.” Schindler’s List (1994), The English Patient (1997), and Shakespeare in Love (1999) won both sides of the Atlantic. Yet, BAFTA’s most inspired choice of the decade was The Crying Game (1993)—a daring, twisty IRA thriller that Hollywood wouldn’t touch. That win alone justifies BAFTA’s existence.