BAFTA Fellowship

The BAFTA Fellowship, or the Academy Fellowship, is a lifetime achievement award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) since 1971 "in recognition of outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image", and is the highest honour the Academy can bestow. Fellowship recipients have been mainly film directors, but some have also been awarded to actors, film and television producers, cinematographers, film editors, screenwriters and (since 2007) to contributors to the video game industry. People from the United Kingdom dominate the list, but it includes over a dozen U.S. citizens and several from other countries in Europe, though none of the latter have been recognized since 1996. Shigeru Miyamoto, in 2010, became the first citizen of an Asian country to receive the award.

The inaugural recipient of the award was film-maker and producer Alfred Hitchcock. Twice the award has been made posthumously: to comedy pair Morecambe and Wise, recipients in 1999, and to Stanley Kubrick, who died that same year and was made a fellow in 2000. The most recent recipient was American actor Sidney Poitier in 2016.

British Academy of Film and Television Arts

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image – film, television and game in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awards ceremonies, BAFTA has an international, year-round programme of learning events and initiatives offering access to talent through workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures and mentoring schemes in the UK and the USA.

Origins of the Academy

BAFTA started out as the British Film Academy, was founded in 1947 by a group of directors David Lean, Alexander Korda, Roger Manvell, Laurence Olivier, Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell, Michael Balcon, Carol Reed, and other major figures of the British film industry.

David Lean was the founding Chairman of the Academy. The first Film Awards ceremony took place in May 1949 and honouring the films The Best Years of Our Lives, Odd Man Out and The World Is Rich.

The Guild of Television Producers and Directors was set up in 1953 with the first awards ceremony in October 1954, and in 1958 merged with the British Film Academy to form the Society of Film and Television Arts, whose inaugural meeting was held at Buckingham Palace and presided over by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

British Academy Television Awards 2003

The 2003 British Academy Television Awards were held on Sunday 13 April at The Dorchester in London. The ceremony was hosted by television presenter Anne Robinson.

Winners

69th British Academy Film Awards

The 69th British Academy Film Awards ("BAFTAs") were held on 14 February 2016 at the Royal Opera House in London to honour the best British and international contributions to film in 2015. Presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), accolades are handed out for the best in feature-length film and documentaries of any nationality, that were screened at British cinemas during 2015.

The nominees were announced on 8 January 2016 by Stephen Fry and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, with Bridge of Spies and Carol both having the most nominations at 9 each.

Winners and nominees

The winners were announced on 14 February 2016:

Academy Fellowship

Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema

Multiple wins and nominations

Wins

Nominations