Another record-breaking feat for Chloé Zhao this awards season: Hamnet is officially BAFTA‘s most-nominated film by a female director ever.
The news arrived on Tuesday alongside the full list of 2026 BAFTA Film Awards nominations, which has Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another just inching ahead of the competition, having accrued a total of 14 nominations. Ryan Coogler’s deep South vampire horror Sinners follows with 13 nods, shortly after becoming the Academy’s most-nominated movie of all time.
But it was Nomadland director Zhao who stole the spotlight as the British Academy named their contenders ahead of the Feb. 22 ceremony in London. Her Sam Mendes- and Steven Spielberg-produced Shakespearean drama Hamnet landed eight BAFTA Film Awards noms, the most for a female filmmaker in BAFTA history.
Adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel of the same name, Focus Features’ Hamnet scored nominations for best film, outstanding British film, as well as best director for Zhao and best adapted screenplay for both Zhao and O’Farrell, who penned the script together.
Irish duo Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal also landed lead actress and supporting actor nods, respectively, for their performances as Agnes and William Shakespeare, two characters torn apart by contrasting experiences of grief after the loss of their son. Emily Watson is recognized in the supporting actress category for her role as Shakespeare’s mother, and Max Richter is nominated for best original score. Hamnet also received costume design, makeup & hair, and production design nominations.
It’s not the only win for industry equality at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards. Across all categories, 25 percent of the nominated films are directed by women. Among some of the others recognized are Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love (outstanding British film), Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite (editing) and Mary Bronstein’s If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (best actress for Rose Byrne).
Some of the other stats from Tuesday’s BAFTA nominations are also neat. For example, there’s 50 years between the youngest and oldest nominated performers — between Chase Infiniti and Odessa A’zion (25) and debut BAFTA nominee Stellan Skarsgard (73). Skarsgard is undoubtedly the frontrunner in the supporting actor category for his role in Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, though both Infiniti and A’zion missed out on Academy Awards nominations last week.
“That boldness of filmmaking and the importance of human connectivity — that feels like it’s a thread running through almost all of the nominations,” BAFTA’s chair of the film committee Emily Stillman told The Hollywood Reporter as nominations were announced.
Read the full list of 2026 BAFTA Film Awards nominations here.
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