- BAFTA Awards 2005: Despite glaring omissions likely resulting from new eligibility rules, Hollywood titles – among them The Aviator, Ray, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – dominated this year’s British Academy Awards. Even so, Mike Leigh’s British-made Vera Drake managed to leave its mark.
BAFTA Awards 2005: Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator and other Hollywood fare dominate British ceremony
Unsurprisingly, Hollywood productions and co-productions topped most non-British categories at the 2005 British Academy Awards (BAFTAs) ceremony held on Feb. 12 at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. Stephen Fry acted as host. (This year’s BAFTA winners and nominees are listed further below.)
Martin Scorsese’s mega-budget Howard Hughes biopic The Aviator won four awards: Best Film, Best Supporting Actress (Cate Blanchett), Best Production Design (Dante Ferretti), and Best Make-Up & Hair (Morag Ross, Kathryn Blondell, and Siân Grigg).
Mike Nichols’ London-set but U.S.-made dysfunctional relationships drama Closer earned Clive Owen Best Supporting Actor honors, while Jamie Foxx was named Best Actor for Taylor Hackford’s Ray Charles biopic Ray.
The Hollywood list goes on – e.g., Best Original Screenplay for the psychological romantic comedy-drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Charlie Kaufman), Best Cinematography for the thriller Collateral (Dion Beebe and Paul Cameron), Best Special Visual Effects for the doomsday disaster thriller The Day After Tomorrow (Karen Goulekas, Neil Corbould, Greg Strause, and Remo Balcells).
In fact, even one of the Hollywood “casualties” of the 2005 BAFTA Awards’ new eligibility rules, Alexander Payne’s generally well-regarded road dramedy Sideways, did top the sole category in which it was nominated, earning Best Adapted Screenplay honors for Payne and Jim Taylor.
British-made abortionist drama Vera Drake tops 3 categories
Admittedly, the 2005 BAFTA Awards weren’t all about Hollywood.
Screenwriter-director Mike Leigh’s British-made, 2004 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion winner Vera Drake was one significant exception, taking home three BAFTA statuettes: Best Director; Best Actress for Venice winner Imelda Staunton, in the role a 1950s working-class wife, mom, and sometime abortionist; and Best Costume Design for Jacqueline Durran – a particularly notable victory considering the characters’ shabby (if realistic) attire.
Weirdly enough, one BAFTA Award Vera Drake failed to win was Best British Film. That honor went instead to Pawel Pawlikowski’s West Yorkshire-set psychological-romantic drama My Summer of Love, about the relationship between two women (Natalie Press and Emily Blunt) of disparate backgrounds.
John Barry
Lastly, veteran composer John Barry – whose credits include Academy Award-winning scores for Born Free (1966; also Best Original Song), The Lion in Winter (1968), Out of Africa (1985), and Dances with Wolves (1990) – was the recipient of the 2005 BAFTA Fellowship.
This year’s BAFTA winners and nominees are listed immediately below. Note: The nominations were announced on Jan. 18.
BAFTA Awards 2005: Winners & nominations
Best Film
* The Aviator – Michael Mann, Sandy Climan, Graham King & Charles Evans Jr.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Steve Golin & Anthony Bregman
Finding Neverland – Richard N. Gladstein & Nellie Bellflower
The Motorcycle Diaries / Diarios de motocicleta – Michael Nozik, Edgard Tenenbaum & Karen Tenkhoff
Vera Drake – Simon Channing Williams & Alain SardeBest Foreign Language Film
* The Motorcycle Diaries (U.S. | Brazil | Argentina)
Bad Education / La mala educación (Spain)
The Chorus / Les Choristes (France)
House of Flying Daggers / Shi mian mai fu (China | Hong Kong)
A Very Long Engagement / Un Long dimanche de fiançailles (France | U.S.)Best British Film
* My Summer of Love – Tanya Seghatchian, Christopher Collins & Pawel Pawlikowski
Dead Man’s Shoes – Mark Herbert & Shane Meadows
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – David Heyman, Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe & Alfonso Cuarón
Shaun of the Dead – Nira Park & Edgar Wright
Vera Drake – Simon Channing Williams, Alain Sarde & Mike LeighBest Actress
* Imelda Staunton – Vera Drake
Charlize Theron – Monster
Kate Winslet – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Kate Winslet – Finding Neverland
Zhang Ziyi – House of Flying DaggersBest Actor
* Jamie Foxx – Ray
Gael García Bernal – The Motorcycle Diaries
Jim Carrey – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Johnny Depp – Finding Neverland
Leonardo DiCaprio – The AviatorBest Supporting Actor
* Clive Owen – Closer
Alan Alda – The Aviator
Phil Davis – Vera Drake
Jamie Foxx – Collateral
Rodrigo De la Serna – The Motorcycle DiariesBest Supporting Actress
* Cate Blanchett – The Aviator
Julie Christie – Finding Neverland
Heather Craney – Vera Drake
Natalie Portman – Closer
Meryl Streep – The Manchurian CandidateDavid Lean Award for Direction
* Mike Leigh – Vera Drake
Marc Forster – Finding Neverland
Michel Gondry – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Michael Mann – Collateral
Martin Scorsese – The AviatorBest Original Screenplay
The Aviator – John Logan
Collateral – Stuart Beattie
* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Charlie Kaufman
Ray – James L. White
Vera Drake – Mike LeighBest Adapted Screenplay
The Chorus – Christophe Barratier & Philippe Lopes-Curval
Closer – Patrick Marber
Finding Neverland – David Magee
The Motorcycle Diaries – José Rivera
* Sideways – Alexander Payne & Jim TaylorBest Cinematography
The Aviator – Robert Richardson
* Collateral – Dion Beebe & Paul Cameron
Finding Neverland – Roberto Schaefer
House of Flying Daggers – Zhao Xiaoding
The Motorcycle Diaries – Eric GautierBest Film Editing
The Aviator – Thelma Schoonmaker
Collateral – Jim Miller & Paul Rubell
* Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Valdís Óskarsdóttir
House of Flying Daggers – Cheng Long
Vera Drake – Jim ClarkAnthony Asquith Award for Film Music
The Aviator – Howard Shore
The Chorus – Bruno Coulais
Finding Neverland – Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
* The Motorcycle Diaries – Gustavo Santaolalla
Ray – Craig ArmstrongBest Production Design
* The Aviator – Dante Ferretti
Finding Neverland – Gemma Jackson
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Stuart Craig
House of Flying Daggers – Huo Tingxiao
Vera Drake – Eve StewartBest Costume Design
* Vera Drake – Jacqueline Durran
Finding Neverland – Alexandra Byrne
House of Flying Daggers – Emi Wada
The Aviator – Sandy Powell
The Merchant of Venice – Sammy SheldonBest Visual Effects
The Aviator – Robert Legato, Pete Travers, Matthew Gratzner & Bruce Steinheimer
* The Day After Tomorrow – Karen Goulekas, Neil Corbould, Greg Strause & Remo Balcells
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – John Richardson, Roger Guyett, Tim Burke, Bill George & Karl Mooney
House of Flying Daggers – Angie Lam, Andy Brown, Kirsty Millar & Luke Hetherington
Spider-Man 2 – John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara & John FrazierBest Sound
The Aviator – Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Petur Hliddal & Tom Fleischman
Collateral – Elliott Koretz, Lee Orloff, Michael Minkler & Myron Nettinga
House of Flying Daggers – Tao Jing & Roger Savage
* Ray – Steve Cantamessa, Scott Millan, Greg Orloff & Bob Beemer
Spider-Man 2 – Paul N. J. Ottosson, Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell & Jeffrey J. HaboushBest Make-Up & Hair
* The Aviator – Morag Ross, Kathryn Blondell & Siân Grigg
Finding Neverland – Christine Blundell
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Amanda Knight, Eithn Fennell & Nick Dudman
House of Flying Daggers – Kwan Lee-Na, Yang Xiaohai & Chau Siu-Mui
Vera Drake – Christine BlundellCarl Foreman Award for Most Promising Newcomer
* Amma Asante (director/writer) – A Way of Life
Andrea Gibb (writer) – AfterLife
Shona Auerbach (director) – Dear Frankie
Matthew Vaughn (director) – Layer Cake
Nira Park (producer) – Shaun of the DeadBest Short Animation
* Birthday Boy – Andrew Gregory & Park Se-jong
City Paradise – Erika Forzy & Gaelle Denis
Heavy Pockets – Jane Robertson & Sarah Cox
His Passionate Bride – Sylvie Bringas & Monika Forsberg
Little Things – Daniel GreavesBest Short Film
* The Banker – Kelly Broad & Hattie Dalton
Can’t Stop Breathing – Ravinder Basra & Amy Neil
Elephant Boy – Rene Mohandas & Durdana Shaikh
Knitting a Love Song – Debbie Ballin & Annie Watson
Six Shooter – Mia Bays, Kenton Allen & Martin McDonaghBAFTA Fellowship
John BarryOutstanding British Contribution to Cinema
Script supervisor Angela AllenAudience Award
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Dir.: Alfonso Cuarón
“BAFTA Awards 2005: Aviator v Abortionist” notes
British Academy Awards (BAFTAs) website.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Beckinsale The Aviator image: Miramax Films | Buena Vista International.
“BAFTA Awards 2005: Aviator v Abortionist” last modified in September 2026.