BAFTA Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award

The Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award is an annual award, first introduced in 1978 and presented in honor of Michael Balcon, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts charity. The award was originally named the Michael Balcon Award but was renamed to its current title in 2006.

Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award
Awarded for	In recognition of outstanding contribution to cinema
Country	United Kingdom
Presented by	British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
First award	1978
Currently held by	MediCinema (2024)
Website	bafta.org

The inaugural recipient of the award was the special visual effects team from the 1978 film Superman and has been presented every year except 2021 and 2022.

In 2020, the award was originally awarded to Noel Clarke but was later rescinded due to numerous allegations of sexual misconduct.^[1]

Honorees

  indicates the winner

Kevin Brownlow, the 1980 winner.

Lord David Puttnam won the award during the 1981 ceremony.

1991 recipient, filmmaker Derek Jarman.

Actor and filmmaker Sir Kenneth Branagh won the award in 1992.

Film4 Productions were the recipients in 1996.

Sir John Hurt won the award in 2011.

2019 winner, actor and filmmaker Andy Serkis.

1970s

Year	Recipient(s)	Ref
1978 (32nd)	Les Bowie, Colin Chilvers, Denys Coop, Roy Field, Derek Meddings, Zoran Perisic and Wally Veevers (Special Visual Effects Team – Superman)
1979 (33rd)	The Children's Film Foundation

1980s

Year	Recipient(s)	Ref
1980 (34th)	Kevin Brownlow
1981 (35th)	David Puttnam (CBE)
1982 (36th)	Arthur Wooster
1983 (37th)	Colin Young (CBE)
1984 (38th)	Alan Parker (CBE) and Alan Marshall
1985 (39th)	Sydney Samuelson (CBE)	[2]
1986 (40th)	The Film Production Executives
1987 (41st)	Monty Python
1988 (42nd)	Charles Crichton
1989 (43rd)	Lewis Gilbert (CBE)

1990s

Year	Recipient(s)	Ref
1990 (44th)	Jeremy Thomas (CBE)
1991 (45th)	Derek Jarman
1992 (46th)	Kenneth Branagh
1993 (47th)	Ken Loach
1994 (48th)	Ridley Scott and Tony Scott
1995 (49th)	Mike Leigh (OBE)
1996 (50th)	Film4 Productions
1997 (51st)	Michael Roberts
1998 (52nd)	Michael Kuhn
1999 (53rd)	Joyce Herlihy

2000s

Year	Recipient(s)	Ref
2000 (54th)	Mary Selway	[3]
2001 (55th)	Vic Armstrong	[4]
2002 (56th)	Michael Stevenson and David Tomblin	[5]
2003 (57th)	Working Title Films	[6]
2004 (58th)	Angela Allen (MBE)	[7]
2005 (59th)	Robert Finch and Billy Merrell	[8]
Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award
2006 (60th)	Nick Daubney	[9]
2007 (61st)	Barry Wilkinson	[10]
2008 (62nd)	Pinewood Studios and Shepperton Studios	[11]
2009 (63rd)	Joe Dunton	[12]

2010s

Year	Recipient(s)	Ref
2010 (64th)	The Harry Potter film series	[13]
2011 (65th)	John Hurt	[14]
2012 (66th)	Tessa Ross	[15]
2013 (67th)	Peter Greenaway	[16]
2014 (68th)	BBC Films	[17]
2015 (69th)	Angels Costumes	[18]
2016 (70th)	Curzon	[19]
2017 (71st)	National Film and Television School	[20]
2018 (72nd)	Stephen Woolley and Elizabeth Karlsen	[21]
2019 (73rd)	Andy Serkis	[22]

2020s

Year	Recipient(s)	Ref
2020 (74th)	Noel Clarke[a]	[23]
2021 (75th)	Not awarded
2022 (76th)	Not awarded
2023 (77th)	June Givanni	[24]
2024 (78th)	MediCinema	[25]

1. Suspended on 29 April 2021 due to numerous sexual misconduct accusations.