The BAFTA Fellowship, or the Academy Fellowship, is a lifetime achievement award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) in recognition of "outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image". The award is the highest honour the Academy can bestow, and has been awarded annually since 1971.
| BAFTA Fellowship | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | In recognition of outstanding achievement in the art forms of the moving image |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Presented by | British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) |
| First award | 1971 |
| Website | bafta.org |
Fellowship recipients have mainly been film directors, but some have been awarded to actors, film/television producers, cinematographers, film editors, screenwriters, and (since 2007) contributors to the video game industry. In 2002, Merchant Ivory Productions became the first organisation to win the award. People from the United Kingdom dominate the list, but it includes over a dozen U.S. citizens and several from other countries in Europe, though none of the latter have been recognised since 1996. In 2010, Shigeru Miyamoto became the first citizen of an Asian country to receive the award.
The inaugural recipient of the award was the filmmaker and producer Alfred Hitchcock. The award has been made posthumously to the comedy pair Morecambe and Wise in 1999, and to Stanley Kubrick, who died that year and was made a fellow in 2000.
Overall, 88 men have won the award, and 17 women. 2012 winner Rolf Harris is the only person to have had the award subsequently annulled.
Recipients
1970s
| Year | Recipient | Profession | Nationality | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Alfred Hitchcock | Filmmaker and producer |  United Kingdom | |
| 1972 | Freddie Young | Cinematographer | United Kingdom | |
| 1973 | Grace Wyndham Goldie | Producer | United Kingdom | |
| 1974 | David Lean | Filmmaker | United Kingdom | |
| 1975 | Jacques Cousteau | Explorer / filmmaker |  France | |
| 1976 | Charlie Chaplin | Filmmaker / Actor | United Kingdom | |
| Laurence Olivier | Filmmaker / Actor | United Kingdom | ||
| 1977 | Denis Forman | Director | United Kingdom | |
| 1978 | Fred Zinnemann | Filmmaker |  United States | |
| 1979 | Lew Grade | Media proprietor | United Kingdom | |
| Huw Wheldon | Broadcaster / executive | United Kingdom |
1980s
| Year | Recipient | Profession | Nationality | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | David Attenborough | Broadcaster / naturalist | United Kingdom | |
| John Huston | Filmmaker / Actor | United States | ||
| 1981 | Abel Gance | Filmmaker / producer | France | |
| Michael Powell | Filmmaker | United Kingdom | ||
| Emeric Pressburger | Filmmaker | United Kingdom  Hungary | ||
| 1982 | Andrzej Wajda | Filmmaker |  Poland | |
| 1983 | Richard Attenborough | Filmmaker / Actor | United Kingdom | |
| 1984 | Hugh Greene | Journalist / television executive | United Kingdom | |
| Sam Spiegel | Film producer |  Austria | ||
| 1985 | Jeremy Isaacs | Television producer / executive | United Kingdom | |
| 1986 | Steven Spielberg | Filmmaker / producer | United States | |
| 1987 | Federico Fellini | Filmmaker |  Italy | |
| 1988 | Ingmar Bergman | Filmmaker |  Sweden | |
| 1989 | Alec Guinness | Actor | United Kingdom |
1990s
| Year | Recipient | Profession | Nationality | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Paul Fox | Television executive | United Kingdom | |
| 1991 | Louis Malle | Director | France | |
| 1992 | John Gielgud | Actor | United Kingdom | |
| David Plowright | Executive / producer | United Kingdom | ||
| 1993 | Sydney Samuelson | First British Film Commissioner | United Kingdom | |
| Colin Young | Film educator | United States | ||
| 1994 | Michael Grade | Broadcast executive | United Kingdom | |
| 1995 | Billy Wilder | Filmmaker | United States | |
| 1996 | Jeanne Moreau | Actress / Filmmaker | France | |
| Ronald Neame | Cinematographer / Filmmaker | United Kingdom | ||
| John Schlesinger | Filmmaker director | United Kingdom | ||
| Maggie Smith | Actress | United Kingdom | ||
| 1997 | Woody Allen | Filmmaker | United States | |
| Steven Bochco | Producer / writer | United States | ||
| Julie Christie | Actress | United Kingdom | ||
| Oswald Morris | Cinematographer | United States | ||
| Harold Pinter | Writer | United Kingdom | ||
| David Rose | Songwriter / composer | United States | ||
| 1998 | Sean Connery | Actor | United Kingdom | |
| Bill Cotton | Producer / executive | United Kingdom | ||
| 1999 | Eric Morecambe | Television Comedian | United Kingdom | |
| Ernie Wise | Television Comedian | United Kingdom | ||
| Elizabeth Taylor | Actress | United Kingdom |
2000s
| Year | Recipient | Profession | Nationality | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Michael Caine | Actor | United Kingdom | |
| Stanley Kubrick | Filmmaker | United States | ||
| Peter Bazalgette | Media expert | United Kingdom | ||
| 2001 | Albert Finney | Actor | United Kingdom | |
| John Thaw | Actor | United Kingdom | ||
| Judi Dench | Actress | United Kingdom | ||
| 2002 | Warren Beatty | Filmmaker / Actor | United States | |
| Merchant Ivory Productions | Film Company | — | ||
| Andrew Davies | Author / screenwriter | United Kingdom | ||
| John Mills | Actor | United Kingdom | ||
| 2003 | Saul Zaentz | Film Producer | United States | |
| David Jason | Television Actor | United Kingdom | ||
| 2004 | John Boorman | Filmmaker | United Kingdom | |
| Roger Graef | Filmmaker | United States | ||
| 2005 | John Barry | Film Composer | United Kingdom | |
| David Frost | Television presenter | United Kingdom | ||
| 2006 | David Puttnam | Film Producer | United Kingdom | |
| Ken Loach | Film / television director | United Kingdom | ||
| 2007 | Anne V. Coates | Film editor | United Kingdom | |
| Richard Curtis | Filmmaker | United Kingdom | ||
| Will Wright | Games Designer | United States | ||
| 2008 | Anthony Hopkins | Actor | United Kingdom | |
| Bruce Forsyth | Television presenter | United Kingdom | ||
| 2009 | Dawn French | Television actress / comedian | United Kingdom | |
| Jennifer Saunders | Television actress / comedian | United Kingdom | ||
| Terry Gilliam | Filmmaker / comedian | United Kingdom | ||
| Nolan Bushnell | Games Engineer | United States |
2010s
| Year | Recipient | Profession | Nationality | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Vanessa Redgrave | Actress | United Kingdom | |
| Shigeru Miyamoto | Games designer at Nintendo |  Japan | ||
| Melvyn Bragg | Television broadcaster | United Kingdom | ||
| 2011 | Christopher Lee | Actor | United Kingdom | |
| Peter Molyneux | Games designer | United Kingdom | ||
| Trevor McDonald | Television presenter | United Kingdom  Trinidad and Tobago | ||
| 2012 | Martin Scorsese | Filmmaker | United States | |
 Australia | ||||
| 2013 | Alan Parker | Filmmaker | United Kingdom | |
| Gabe Newell | Games developer | United States | ||
| Michael Palin | Actor / Comedian | United Kingdom | ||
| 2014 | Helen Mirren | Actress | United Kingdom | |
| Rockstar Games | Games developer and publisher | — | ||
| Julie Walters | Actress | United Kingdom | ||
| 2015 | Mike Leigh | Filmmaker | United Kingdom | |
| David Braben | Games programmer and designer | United Kingdom | ||
| Jon Snow | Television presenter | United Kingdom | ||
| 2016 | Sidney Poitier | Actor | United States  Bahamas | |
| John Carmack | Games programmer / Engineer | United States | ||
| Ray Galton | Comedy writers | United Kingdom | ||
| Alan Simpson | United Kingdom | |||
| 2017 | Mel Brooks | Filmmaker / Actor / Comedian | United States | |
| Joanna Lumley | Television actress | United Kingdom | ||
| 2018 | Ridley Scott | Filmmaker | United Kingdom | |
| Tim Schafer | Games designer | United States | ||
| Kate Adie | Television journalist | United Kingdom | ||
| 2019 | Thelma Schoonmaker | Film editor | United States | |
| Joan Bakewell | Television broadcaster | United Kingdom |
2020s
| Year | Recipient | Profession | Nationality | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Kathleen Kennedy | Producer | United States | |
| Hideo Kojima | Games designer | Japan | ||
| 2021 | Siobhan Reddy | Games director | United Kingdom | |
| Ang Lee | Filmmaker |  Taiwan | ||
| 2022 | Billy Connolly | Television actor / comedian | United Kingdom | |
| 2023 | Sandy Powell | Costume designer | United Kingdom | |
| Shuhei Yoshida | Games designer | Japan | ||
| Meera Syal | Television Actor / Writer | United Kingdom | ||
| 2024 | Samantha Morton | Actress | United Kingdom | |
| Floella Benjamin | Television presenter | United Kingdom | ||
| 2025 | Warwick Davis | Actor | United Kingdom | |
| Yoko Shimomura | Games composer | Japan | ||
| Kirsty Wark | Television presenter | United Kingdom | ||
| 2026 | Donna Langley | Film executive | United Kingdom | |
| Ilkka Paananen | Video game executive |  Finland |