It’s with great excitement to share the news that the EE British Academy Film Awards 2019 will be hosted by Joanna Lumley for the second time and will be held at London’s iconic Royal Albert Hall, a venue we adore, taking place on Sunday 10 February 2019 and, as we’d expect, broadcast on BBC One and BBC One HD.

BAFTA have also announced that, for the third year, the EE British Academy Film Awards will feature entertainment company Cirque de Soleil, which will be in residence at the Royal Albert Hall at the time of the Awards with its latest show to tour the UK, Totem, and they’ll perform a piece especially created for the ceremony.

Emma Baehr, Director of awards at BAFTA had this to say:

‘We’re delighted to be returning to the iconic Royal Albert Hall for the third year and collaborating again with Cirque du Soleil. We’re thrilled that Joanna has agreed to return as our host for a second year, she was fantastic and we’re looking forward to the ceremony with her once again at the helm.’

Lucy Noble, Artistic Director at the Royal Albert Hall, added:

“We’re delighted to welcome the EE BAFTAs to the Hall for the third successive year – from legendary filmmakers to beloved stars, Hollywood royalty to national treasures, they’ll all pass through the doors of Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s favourite venue. This glittering, star-studded event has become one of the most hotly-anticipated events in our calendar and, following another year of extraordinary movies, we can’t wait to play host to the British film industry’s night of celebration.”

The EE Rising Star nominations are announced tomorrow, Thursday 3 January, we’ll bring you those as we get them, and the nominations for the EE British Academy Film Awards will be announced next week on Wednesday 9 January.