Co-hosted with CHANEL, the annual BAFTA fixture took place at 5 Hertford Street.
You don’t need to be in the film business to know that it has been a particularly strong year in cinema. With titles Sinners, Hamnet, One Battle After Another, Marty Supreme and Sentimental Value all in the running, the Awards competition among big-ticket names has been extremely fierce. The key winner at the BAFTA ceremony on Sunday night was Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, which took home six prizes (including Best Film), whilst Sinners and Frankenstein took home three awards each.
In a corner of Mayfair, however, there was some reprieve from the competition on Saturday night. Hosted at 5 Hertford Street, A Rabbit’s Foot editor-in-chief Charles Finch opened the doors for his annual pre-BAFTA party, co-hosted with CHANEL. A true fixture of awards season, the party saw some of the biggest filmmakers, stars and industry executives rubbing shoulders the night before the ceremony.
Welcomed by the melodies of a mariachi band (a Charles Finch signature), those in attendance included Sinners director Ryan Coogler, along with cast members Miles Caton, Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku (who took home a Best Supporting Actress trophy) as well as producer Zinzi Coogler. Representing the leading actress race were Kate Hudson and Rose Byrne, whilst from the leading actor race was represented by The Secret Agent’s Wagner Moura and Bugonia star Jesse Plemons (who attended with Kirsten Dunst) whilst Stellan Skarsgård showed up for the Best Supporting Actor race. Hamnet director Chloé Zhao also made an appearance with star Joe Alwyn, prior to receiving the Best British Film award the next night. Marty Supreme’s Josh Safdie and Odessa A’zion also joined the festivities, as did Lynne Ramsay, who, with Die My Love, was in the running at BAFTA for Best British Film.
After cocktails, guests headed to dinner on the sumptuous lower floor of 5 Hertford Street, where Finch gave a toast to those in attendance. “These BAFTA parties are always about filmmaking and filmmakers—and it’s incredibly exciting to have such a mix of talent in the room tonight,” he tells A Rabbit’s Foot. “These ceremonies and dinners are a celebration of a great art form that we love. And if they can engage a wide audience in the mystique of cinema, then that’s a great thing—if we can get people to go and see movies, then we’ve done our job.”
Finch also gave a shout-out to the magazine. “Issue 14 of A Rabbit’s Foot hits the stands soon—we just finished it two nights ago. It’s a really interesting study of independent California,” he said. “You’ll have to wait to see who’s on the cover.”
For A Rabbit’s Foot, it was also a special occasion to catch up with collaborators and talent from the previous year: BAFTA EE Rising Star nominee Archie Madekwe (our February digital cover star); Sentimental Value’s Joachim Trier; and writer Eskil Vogt and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (our November digital cover star alongside Renate Reinsve). We also said hello to past talent such as Nia DaCosta, Felicity Jones as well as Akinola Davies Jr., director of My Father’s Shadow, whom we featured in Issue 13. The following night he took home the Outstanding British Debut award, ending with a final call: “for Nigeria, for London, Congo, Sudan—free Palestine.”
We also caught up with the team behind the urgent Palestine docudrama The Voice of Hind Rajab: director Kaouther Ben Hania and producer Odessa Rae, who were nominated for Best Film Not In The English Language. “The nomination gives us a larger platform and the hope that more people will see the film,” Rae told A Rabbit’s Foot.
Other actors from the British and international film scene in attendance included Isla Fisher, Patrick Dempsey, Tom Blyth, Riz Ahmed, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Marisa Abela and Noomi Rapace. Industry figures included casting director Nina Gold (currently working on the Edith Wharton adaptation The Custom of the Country, produced by Rabbit’s Foot Films), Marrakech International Film Festival director Melita Toscan du Plantier, and film executive Donna Langley, who took home the 2026 Fellowship the following night.
Finch started his ‘Night Before’ parties about 25 years ago when he hosted a dinner on the eve of the Oscars for out-of-towners in Hollywood. When back in London, he noticed that the same glamour was missing from the BAFTAs and started a party in partnership with CHANEL. “This gave the evening a fashion component—dressing up stars,” says Finch.
With the recent appointment of Matthieu Blazy as CHANEL’s creative director, there was also a new energy in the room, sartorially speaking. Dressed in Blazy’s new collection—which will arrive in boutiques this spring—were Lily Allen (wearing Look 62 from the Spring ’26 show), Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Kirsten Dunst and Rose Byrne. A tantalising taste of this new period at the French house—we can’t wait to see what the future has in store.
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