The Power of the Dog, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, got eight nominations, while Belfast got six.
Image source, Reuters
Sci-fi epic Dune, which boasts an all-star cast including Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya, leads the nominations for this year’s Bafta Film Awards with 11.
The Power of the Dog, a gothic Western starring Benedict Cumberbatch as a menacing cowboy, received eight nods.
Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, a black-and-white retelling of his childhood in Northern Ireland got six nominations.
Daniel Craig’s final Bond outing No Time To Die has five nominations, including outstanding British film.
The top nominees
- Dune – 11
- The Power of the Dog – 8
- Belfast – 6
- Licorice Pizza – 5
- No Time to Die – 5
- West Side Story -5
- After Love – 4
- Boiling Point -4
- Cyrano – 4
- Don’t Look Up – 4
- Passion – 4
- King Richard – 4
- CODA – 3
- Drive My Car – 3
- The French Dispatch – 3
- House of Gucci – 3
- Nightmare Alley – 3
Read the full list of nominations here.
Dune’s high number of nominations, including for best film, is a reflection of its recognition in many categories, including several of the technical ones such as cinematography, visual effects, costume design and make-up and hair, as well as original score.
It is a sprawling story of power, betrayal and murder set in the distant future, and was a box office hit when it came out in the UK in October, making more than £20m. Critics largely lavished praise on director Denis Villeneuve’s movie, which was based on Herbert’s 1965 science fiction classic book. It was also made into a film in 1984 by David Lynch.
The other best film nominees are Belfast, Leonardo DiCaprio’s disaster comedy Don’t Look Up, coming-of-age comedy-drama Licorice Pizza, starring rock star Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman, and The Power of the Dog.
But No Time to Die, along with Steven Steven Spielberg’s big-screen adaptation of the musical West Side Story, were overlooked for best film.
Image source, Netflix
Cumberbatch will go head-to-head with DiCaprio and King Richard star Will Smith for the leading actor gong, as well as Stephen Graham – who played an under pressure chef in Boiling Point. This is Smith’s first Bafta nomination, for his role as Richard Williams, in the biographical drama about the father and coach of tennis players Venus and Serena Williams.
Aunjanue Ellis, who plays his wife, Oracene “Brandy” Williams, is among the six nominees best actress, which also include House of Gucci’s Lady Gaga, musician Alan Haim for Licorice Pizza and Tessa Thompson for Passing.
Licorice Pizza filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson is up for best director, against the likes of Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog and Julia Ducournau for Titane – which won the Palme d’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Three women were nominated among the six slots in this traditionally male-dominated category, which also includes Audrey Diwan, for Happening.
Sir Kenneth’s Belfast is up for a raft of awards, but his name is absent from the best director list, along with Villeneuve, Spielberg for West Side Story and Ridley Scott for House of Gucci.
Other notable omissions from this year’s shortlists include Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter) and Nicole Kidman (Being the Rodrigos) in the best actress category plus Kirsten Dunst for best supporting actress (The Power of the Dog), along with Andrew Garfield (Tick Tick… Boom!) and Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth) for best actor. Two-time Oscar winner Washington has never had a Bafta nomination.
Despite their leading actresses missing out, The Lost Daughter and Being the Ricardos are still among nine films to have been handed two Bafta nominations.
One film missing from the Bafta shortlists is Spider-Man: No Way Home because it was not made available for voters to watch online in time.
Image source, Universal
Stars including Chalamet, and Cumberbatch may now face a dilemma over whether to attend the Baftas or the Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles, after being nominated for both.
The Critics Choice show was originally meant to be held in January, but has been rescheduled to the same day as the Baftas, which usually attracts an array of big-name nominees from the US as well as the UK. Last month, Bafta said it was not planning to have a satellite link-up with the Critics Choice venue.
The Oscar nominations will be announced on Tuesday ahead of the Academy Awards on 27 March.
Final voting for the Oscars will begin four days after the Bafta and Critics Choice ceremonies. Nomadland won best film at both the Oscars and Baftas last year, but before 2021, the best film winner at both ceremonies had been different six years in a row.
There are 19 categories awarded at both the Baftas and the Oscars, and last year only last year only one Bafta winner – cinematography – did not repeat its success at the Oscars.
Image source, Niko Tavernise
The nominees for the rising star category – the only Bafta voted for by the public – were announced earlier this week.
Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), Harris Dickinson (The King’s Man), Lashana Lynch (No Time To Die), Millicent Simmonds (A Quiet Place Part II) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog) are all in the running this year.
The Baftas will be hosted by Australian actress Rebel Wilson at a ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall on 13 March.
The Bridesmaids and Pitch Perfect star takes over from Edith Bowman and Dermot O’Leary, who presided over last year’s prize-giving.
Wilson has said she is “very honoured” to be hosting the Baftas. In previous years, she has gone viral for her comedic speeches at the ceremony.