The organisers of the BAFTA Film Awards, which are taking place on Sunday 16 February, are reportedly tightening security to prevent anyone gatecrashing the ceremony following an embarrassing incident last year.
At the 2024 Awards, the Christopher Nolan-directed Oppenheimer won Best Film, but when the cast and crew walked to the stage to accept the BAFTA, they were joined by a YouTube prankster who goes by the name of Lizwani. He was seen standing and smirking in the background behind Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy as Nolan’s wife, producer Emma Thomas, gave her acceptance speech on stage in front of a celebrity-packed audience and millions of viewers at home.
At the time, BAFTA said: “A social media prankster was removed by security last night after joining the winners of the final award on stage. We are taking this very seriously, and don’t wish to grant him any publicity by commenting further.”
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Getty Images for BAFTA)
The prankster, who has a relatively small 10,000 followers on YouTube, previously infiltrated other ceremonies including the 2022 BRIT Awards and Soccer Aid in 2021. He has only posted one video since his appearance at the BAFTAs.
The film awards ceremony is once again taking place at the Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank and attendees are expected to include nominees Ralph Fiennes, Kieran Culkin, Demi Moore, Timothee Chalamet and Cynthia Erivo, while David Tennant is returning to host for the second year in a row.
A source told The Sun that organisers are determined to make sure that no uninvited guests will get the chance to infiltrate the event this year. “The Baftas are taking no risks after last year and security at tomorrow’s event has never been tighter. Everyone going in and out of Festival Hall will be checked and there are more security guards on call. It’ll basically be the safest place to be in London because of the amount of eyes on it.”
The source added that security would also be increased inside the venue, with more checks so no one can get close to the stage who isn’t supposed to be there. The Mirror has approached BAFTA representatives for comment.
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Getty Images for BAFTA)
Last year, the big winners at the BAFTA Film Awards were Oppenheimer, with seven wins including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Cillian Murphy and Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr, while Emma Stone won Best Actress for Poor Things and Da’Vine Joy Randolph won Best Supporting Actress for The Holdovers.
This year, contenders for Best Film include drama Conclave, starring nominee Ralph Fiennes, crime drama Anora, period drama The Brutalist, starring nominees Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones, Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, featuring nominees Timothée Chalamet (as Dylan) and Edward Norton (as musician Pete Seeger) and the controversial Netflix musical drama Emilia Perez.
As well as the main awards, Star Wars and Willow actor Warwick Davis will receive the BAFTA Fellowship and the charity Medicinema will receive an award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. Patrons the Prince and Princess of Wales are not attending this year, but fans at the ceremony and watching the BBC’s broadcast at home will be treated to a performance by Take That, whose song Greatest Day appears in the movie Anora, while acclaimed actor and musician Jeff Goldblum will deliver a piano performance during the In Memoriam segment of the show.
The BAFTA Film Awards will be on BBC One on Sunday 16 February from 7pm.
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Source: Mirror
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