On Monday, August 11, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced the rollout of the inaugural BAFTA Honours, scheduled to take place on Sunday, November 2 in Los Angeles, California. And while this indeed a new event, it does fill a BAFTA-sized hole on the awards calendar, dating back to 2020.
Officially, the Honours are described as the first event of its kind in the United States, providing a new series of special awards across film, games, and television to recognize individuals and organizations that have had significant and positive impact on the sector. The event will bestow the iconic BAFTA mask upon three distinguished honorees, marking only the sixth time that the BAFTA mask is awarded in the U.S., marking a significant milestone for BAFTA North America.
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IndieWire has confirmed that this news comes with final notice that BAFTA’s previous special awards ceremony in North America, the Britannia Awards, has officially come to an end. Established in 1989, and presented by BAFTA Los Angeles, the Britannia Awards were meant to honor individuals and companies who have dedicated their careers or corporate missions to advancing the artforms of the moving image in the U.S., U.K., and beyond. They were last presented in 2019. In 2020, they were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and they have not returned since.
That event gave out awards for Excellence in Film, Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment, Excellence in Directing, Excellence in Comedy, Excellence in Television, and British Artist of the Year. In 2019, those awards were given to Jane Fonda, Jackie Chan, Jordan Peele, Steve Coogan, Norman Lear, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, respectively.
BAFTA special awards are a gift of the BAFTA Academy. Per BAFTA brass, the Honours represents a new chapter “that reflects the organization’s ongoing commitment to celebrating global excellence in film, games, and television, and to deepening engagement with the creative communities across North America.” With these awards, BAFTA also reasserts its interest in awarding video games and their creators, still a rarity in the usual awards space.
The next BAFTA Film Awards is scheduled for Sunday, February 22, 2026. BAFTA Honours will not be the only U.S.-based event, as BAFTA hosts several annual tea parties, including the Los Angeles TV Tea Party on September 13, the New York Tea Party on September 27, and the official 2026 BAFTA Tea Party on January 10, 2026, ahead of the film awards.
