‘Kneecap’ Makes BAFTA History as the Most Nominated Debut Film Ever

Congratulations are in order for Rich Peppiatt and his Kneecap crew and cast — they made BAFTA Film Awards history on Wednesday as the movie became the British Academy’s most-nominated debut film ever.

Peppiatt’s Irish hip-hop “print the legend” biopic on the Belfast-based rap trio — boasting Michael Fassbender among its ensemble — scored six nominations overall, including for outstanding British film, outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer and best casting for Carla Stronge.

Stars Naoise Ó Cairealláin, Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh and JJ Ó Dochartaigh feature as themselves in the movie. Peppiatt is also nominated for best film not in the English language and original screenplay. Julian Ulrichs and Chris Gill picked up a nomination for best editing.

“It’s a really exciting one to see,” Anna Higgs, chair of the BAFTA Film Committee, told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. “I have family from the north of Ireland and I love that sense of it being a real production between Britain and Ireland, which is really, really exciting. It shows that global nature of how we work across borders, and we tell stories that are really important, both personally and politically.”

Kneecap is competing against Conclave, Bird, Blitz, Gladiator II, Hard Truths, Lee, Love Lies Bleeding, The Outrun and Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl in the outstanding British film category.

Peppiatt is up against Hoard director-writer Luna Carmoon, Monkey Man helmer Dev Patel, Santosh director-writer Sandhya Suri and Sister Midnight‘s Karan Kandhari in the outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer category.

It was also a Kneecap sweep at the 2024 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) in London early December, where the film picked up 7 awards in total. “Films like Kneecap don’t get made without funders who are prepared to take a chance and probably not get their money back,” Peppiatt said at the time. “Kneecap‘s done alright — they might actually get their money back.”

It is the most genre-diverse year ever for the BAFTA Film Awards as horror movies Heretic and The Substance, musical (or music-inspired) films, such as Wicked and A Complete Unknown, historical epics like Steve McQueen’s Blitz and big-budget action fare like Dune: Part Two and Gladiator II all earned nominations on Wednesday.

The Ralph Fiennes and Stanley Tucci-led Vatican drama Conclave, based on the novel by Robert Harris, leads the way with 12 BAFTA nominations — ahead of Emilia Perez‘s 11 and The Brutalist‘s nine, as unveiled by actors Will Sharpe and Mia McKenna-Bruce from the British Academy’s headquarters in London mid-day on Wednesday.