The British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) has unveiled that it will present the first Children’s and Family Film Award at the 78th edition of its awards ceremony in February.
The award will be the first new category BAFTA has added to its ceremonies in five years, since the introduction of its Casting category in 2020. The move follows the board’s announcement last year that it would fold its previous Young BAFTA categories into the main show to encourage more entries and boost interest in kids media awards.
Entries for the 2025 BAFTA’s open today, and kids films with either a U, PG or 12A rating will be eligible to compete in the new category. Round one voting will begin in December, and BAFTA will publish its longlists on January 3, 2025.
Despite the introduction of the Children’s and Family Award, the Young BAFTAs will continue to run two other awards shows: the annual Young Presenters ceremonies and Young Game Designers competition.
Three million people tuned into the 2024 BAFTA Film Awards on BBC One earlier this year, and highlights of the show generated more than 20 million views on social media platforms.