The BFI and the British Consulate-General Los Angeles celebrates the 2026 Oscars

The BFI and the British Consulate-General Los Angeles salute this year’s awards season as UK based productions and co-productions earn five Best Picture nominees and 40 total Academy Award nominations. Alongside the British Consulate, we will be celebrating this success with a pre-Oscars British Film Reception in Los Angeles on March 13 hosted by BFI CEO Ben Roberts and His Majesty’s Consul General Paul J. G. Rennie, OBE at Soho House Holloway, in partnership with Spotlight.

The UK’s incredible on-screen talent, world-class crews, state-of-the art studios and striking and diverse locations play a defining role across the major categories at the Academy Awards. The UK footprint is unmistakable amongst the Best Picture and Best International Feature nominees with 40 UK productions and co-productions, across the 125 total nominations, accounting for roughly one-third of the total field – a testament to UK collaborations with the US and countries across the globe.

Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet underscores the depth of UK talent present at this year’s Academy Awards. The film, inspired by the life and loss of the UK’s greatest literary export William Shakespeare, is powered by a formidable roster of some of the UK’s greatest creative minds including: producers Pippa Harris, Liza Marshall and Academy Award-winner Sam Mendes; Nina Gold, who makes history as the first British nominee for the inaugural Academy Award for Best Casting; composer Max Richter who is nominated for Best Original Score; and Alice Felton who is nominated for Best Production Design. Irish actress Jessie Buckley is up for Best Actress and plays alongside Irish actor Paul Mescal and a British cast including Emily Watson, Joe Alwyn, Noah Jupe and Jacobi Jupe. Hamnet is based on Northern Irish writer Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Chloe Zhao and together they are nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Michael B. Jordan’s Sinners has more Oscar nominations (16) than any other film in history, including British nominees Wunmi Mosaku for Best Supporting Actress and Delroy Lindo for Best Supporting Actor. Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another also features significant UK connections including the late producer Adam Somner and composer Jonny Greenwood, also the lead guitarist in multi-Grammy award-winning UK band Radiohead, nominated for Best Original Score.

Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is another notable example of the UK’s strength in this year’s awards season. With support from Screen Scotland, the movie was partly filmed across Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Arbroath, and Glencoe and is a striking showcase of Scotland’s locations. Based on the classic novel by British author Mary Shelley, it was also filmed in locations across England, including Wilton House, Burleigh House and Elstree Studios. Guillermo del Toro will be receiving a BFI Fellowship, the organisation’s highest honor, in May 2026 to celebrate his work and long history of inspiration and collaboration with British cinema. Frankenstein producer Scott Stuber is also a BFI Board Member.

Three other best picture nominees were filmed at least partly in the UK including Bugonia in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, F1 in Silverstone Circuit, Kent, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, and Hamnet in Herefordshire and Elstree Studios, highlighting the continued appeal of UK locations, crews, and studio facilities to the world’s leading filmmakers. Furthermore, five of the ten Best Picture nominees are UK co-productions, including: Frankenstein, Hamnet, F1, Bugonia (funded by Film4) and Sentimental Value (funded by BBC Film) with director Joachim Trier an alumni of the UK’s National Film and Television School’s Directing Fiction course. UK Writer/Director Lee Knight’s A Friend of Dorothy was shot in London and is nominated for Best Live Action Short and stars British national treasures Miriam Margolies and Stephen Fry and rising star Alistair Nwachukwu. Taken together, these figures paint a picture of a national film culture that is not merely participating on the global stage but actively part of shaping it.

The flagship BFI London Film Festival once again proved its status as a vital launchpad for awards-season contenders, with six of the ten Best Picture nominees – Bugonia, Frankenstein, Hamnet, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value, and Train Dreams – premiering in the UK at the festival in October 2025. All five Best International Feature Film nominees – It Was Just an Accident, Sirat, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value and The Voice of Hind Rajab – also played at the BFI London Film Festival, reinforcing its role as a uniquely important showcase for both British and international filmmaking at the highest level.

“We are excited by all the incredible talent nominated at this year’s Oscars and very proud of our UK nominees,” said Ben Roberts, BFI CEO. “As a co-producing nation, it’s great to see the UK playing such an important role in so many of the nominated films – from our world class crews, iconic locations and studios to original stories that are rooted in our cultural heritage.’

His Majesty’s Consul General Paul J G Rennie OBE said: “From world-class studios and crews to iconic location and creative talent, the UK continues to play a central role in the global film industry. It is fantastic to see so much UK talent recognised this year, and we are delighted to celebrate the creativity, collaboration, and innovation that continues to shape the future of global film.”