The 79th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) took place last night, February 22, 2026, at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The ceremony, hosted by Alan Cumming and broadcast worldwide, honoured the finest films from 2025 and highlighted a particularly strong showing from British-Nigerian talent.
Huge British-Nigerian Wins
Wunmi Mosaku won Best Supporting Actress for her powerful performance as Annie, the herbalist and healer, in Ryan Coogler’s film Sinners. This marked a historic milestone as she became the first Black British actress to win in this category at the BAFTA Film Awards.
In her acceptance speech, Mosaku expressed being “really shocked” by the win and spoke movingly about finding ancestral power and connection through the role—parts of herself she felt she had dimmed as an immigrant trying to fit in.This victory also represented a return to BAFTA success for Mosaku, who previously won in the television category for Damilola, Our Loved Boy in 2017.
Sinners itself made history as the most-decorated film from a Black director at the event, securing three awards total: Original Screenplay for Ryan Coogler, Supporting Actress for Mosaku, and Original Score for Ludwig Göransson.
Akinola Davies Jr., alongside his brother Wale Davies (who co-wrote the screenplay), claimed the Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for their film My Father’s Shadow. This coming-of-age drama, set during Nigeria’s 1993 election crisis, follows two brothers navigating life in Lagos with their troubled father. Shot across Nigeria and the UK, the film draws from deeply personal and political themes of family, identity, memory, and immigration.
In his acceptance speech, Akinola Davies Jr. dedicated the win to his immigrant parents who “sacrificed everything” for their children’s futures. He also made a notable call for “Free Palestine” (along with mentions of Nigeria, London, the Congo, and Sudan), emphasizing that dreams and storytelling are acts of resistance.
