How the coveted bronze BAFTA mask trophies are made

LONDON (AP) — Those winning a prize at the upcoming British Academy Film Awards will bag a coveted bronze mask trophy — and get a bit of an arm workout taking it home.

Along with the honor of being named the best of the year in the industry, winners at the BAFTA ceremony on Feb. 22 will be awarded one of the dozens of the 3-kilogram (6.6-pound) prizes.

This year the cast and crew of “One Battle After Another,” “Sinners,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” and “Sentimental Value” are in the running for the trophies at the EE BAFTA ceremony, to be held at London's Royal Festival Hall.

As with many things in show business, all that glitters is not gold. The BAFTA masks are made of phosphor bronze, polished to a mirror finish that will reflect the happy face of its new owner.

Craftsmen at the AATi Foundry in Braintree, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of London, use a sandcasting technique to make about 350 bronze trophies each year for all the BAFTA ceremonies — covering the film, television and gaming industries.

They are created in batches, and making one from start to finish takes around a week, the foundry's director Hugh Bisset said Tuesday.

The process starts with a pattern by the tooling team, often out of timber or 3D printing. That tool moves to the molding team which uses sand to make two recessed impressions of the mask, one each side. They are then closed together, ready for molten hot bronze — up to 1,200 degrees Celsius (2,192 Fahrenheit) — to be poured into it.

The metal takes about three or four hours to cool down, when it can then be removed from the sand. The masks' surfaces look dull and a bit rough around the edges at this stage, but after fettling, threading and polishing they are ready to be assembled before being checked over extremely carefully.

Bisset says it’s important that the masks are shiny and have no polish left on them.

“The thing I’m always conscious of is that these amazing actors and actresses, they pick up their awards and my big concern is that a smudge of polish will end up over their lovely, beautiful white dress," he said. “There’s lots of things we need to think about.”

Bisset reckons the diligence and care that his skilled team puts into the making of the masks reflects the hard work of the winning filmmakers and movie stars.

And while it’s still unknown if favorites Jessie Buckley, Timothée Chalamet and Teyana Taylor will get the glory on Sunday, whoever does win will take home something worth more than its heavy weight in bronze.

“There’s a lot of metal in it," but each mask also has “a lot of time and love being put into it," Bisset said.

A completed British Academy Film Awards mask sits on a workbench at the FSE Foundry in Braintree, England on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

A British Academy Film Awards mask is polished as part of the process to create BAFTA masks at FSE Foundry in Braintree, England on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Furnace workers pour molten metal as part of the process to create BAFTA masks at FSE Foundry in Braintree, England on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

A furnace worker pour molten metal as part of the process to create BAFTA masks at FSE Foundry in Braintree, England on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Completed British Academy Film Awards masks at the FSE Foundry in Braintree, England on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City star Joško Gvardiol is back in training after four months out with a broken leg, with Pep Guardiola saying Friday he hopes the defender is ready to “make a good World Cup" with Croatia.

Gvardiol underwent surgery after sustaining a fracture to his right leg in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea in the Premier League on Jan. 4.

It left in doubt Gvardiol's availability for the World Cup starting June 11, but Guardiola said the versatile defender is “feeling good” after being seen taking part in a practice session on Thursday.

“Last season he was the important player for us when we had many injuries — he played all the games and, in the end, the body says enough is enough,” Guardiola said. “Happy he is back. Hopefully he can help us in the last part of the season and make a good World Cup with Croatia and next season we can have him again at his best.”

City plays Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday and Guardiola said there was a chance Rodri might be back after a hamstring injury caused the Spain midfielder to miss the last three games, including the costly 3-3 draw at Everton on Monday.

That left second-place City five points behind Arsenal, with a game in hand. Arsenal has three matches remaining and has regained pole position in the title race.

City also plays Chelsea in the FA Cup final on May 16.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola sits on the bench before the FA Cup semifinal soccer match between Manchester City and Southampton in Manchester, England, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)