The BAFTA nominations are out. I’ve added my commentary for what I think are the surprises and the snubs. The following is from the BAFTA press release, with my commentary added in colour. FIlms I have yet to see are marked with an asterisk. I’ll hold on my predictions until a little nearer the time, when hopefully I will have seen more of the films.
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The EE BAFTA Film Awards will be hosted by David Tennant and will take place on Sunday 18 February on BBC One and iPlayer and broadcast around the world including on Britbox in North America.
BEST FILM
ANATOMY OF A FALL Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion
THE HOLDOVERS* Mark Johnson
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Dan Friedkin, Daniel Lupi, Martin Scorsese, Bradley Thomas
OPPENHEIMER Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, Emma Thomas
POOR THINGS Ed Guiney, Yorgos Lanthimos, Andrew Lowe, Emma Stone
There were always going to be losers here, and the omission of “Barbie”, “Maestro” and particularly “Past Lives” might be the talking points. Good to see “Anatomy of a Fall” on the list.
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
ALL OF US STRANGERS* Andrew Haigh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey
HOW TO HAVE SEX Molly Manning Walker, Emily Leo, Ivana MacKinnon, Konstantinos Kontovrakis
NAPOLEON Ridley Scott, Mark Huffam, Kevin J. Walsh, David Scarpa
THE OLD OAK* Ken Loach, Rebecca O’Brien, Paul Laverty
POOR THINGS Yorgos Lanthimos, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Emma Stone, Tony McNamara
RYE LANE Raine Allen-Miller, Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo, Damian Jones, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia
SALTBURN Emerald Fennell, Josey McNamara, Margot Robbie
SCRAPPER Charlotte Regan, Theo Barrowclough
WONKA Paul King, Alexandra Derbyshire, David Heyman, Simon Farnaby
THE ZONE OF INTEREST* Jonathan Glazer, James Wilson, Ewa Puszczyńska
This is a great set of films and delighted that “How to Have Sex” made the list. The big omission for me would be “Lola” which was one of the most innovative British films last year. Also (although I still haven’t seen it) my Flickering Dreams co-host the Rev Andy Godfrey is fuming that “Typist Artist Pirate King”, his number 1 film of 2023, didn’t make this list.
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
BLUE BAG LIFE* Lisa Selby (Director), Rebecca Lloyd-Evans (Director, Producer), Alex Fry (Producer)
BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT* Christopher Sharp (Director) [also directed Moses Bwayo]
EARTH MAMA* Savanah Leaf (Writer, Director, Producer), Shirley O’Connor (Producer), Medb Riordan (Producer)
HOW TO HAVE SEX Molly Manning Walker (Writer, Director)
IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?* Ella Glendining (Director)
Very short sighted on this category, but again delighted that “How to Have Sex” made the list with Molly Manning Walker who I saw recently in a Mark Kermode in 3D event at the BFI. If it doesn’t win Best British Film, I hope there’s a chance it will pick up this one. Good luck Molly!
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL* Mstyslav Chernov, Raney Aronson Rath
ANATOMY OF A FALL Justine Triet, Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion
PAST LIVES Celine Song, David Hinojosa, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon
SOCIETY OF THE SNOW J.A. Bayona, Belen Atienza
THE ZONE OF INTEREST* Jonathan Glazer, PGA
Ooh – a tough one to call of the films I have seen. Likely to be between “Past Lives” and “Anatomy of a Fall”, with the latter being the likely winner since it didn’t make the Best Film list. But that would be an awful snub for “Past Lives”.
DOCUMENTARY
20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL* Mstyslav Chernov, Raney Aronson Rath
AMERICAN SYMPHONY* Matthew Heineman, Lauren Domino, Joedan Okun
BEYOND UTOPIA* Madeleine Gavin, Rachel Cohen, Jana Edelbaum
STILL: A MICHAEL J. FOX MOVIE Davis Guggenheim, Jonathan King, Annetta Marion
WHAM!* Chris Smith
Very short sighted in this category which I hope to fix with additional viewings in the next month. Loves the Michael J Fox documentary though.
ANIMATED FILM
THE BOY AND THE HERON* Hayao Miyazaki, Toshio Suzuki
CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET Sam Fell, Leyla Hobart, Steve Pegram
ELEMENTAL Peter Sohn, Denise Ream
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Avi Arad, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Amy Pascal, Christina Steinberg
Likely to be a tussle here between “The Boy and the Heron” (which I still haven’t seen) and Spidey. I’d personally love the latter to win this. Note: No nomination for Disney’s “Wish”.
DIRECTOR
ALL OF US STRANGERS* Andrew Haigh
ANATOMY OF A FALL Justine Triet
THE HOLDOVERS* Alexander Payne
MAESTRO Bradley Cooper
OPPENHEIMER Christopher Nolan
THE ZONE OF INTEREST* Jonathan Glazer
This feels a bit bonkers… that “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Poor Things” are on the Best Film list but Martin Scorsese and Yorgos Lanthimos don’t make this category. What’s the rationale I wonder?
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
ANATOMY OF A FALL Justine Triet, Arthur Harari
BARBIE Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach
THE HOLDOVERS* David Hemingson
MAESTRO Bradley Cooper, Josh Singer
PAST LIVES Celine Song
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
ALL OF US STRANGERS* Andrew Haigh
AMERICAN FICTION* Cord Jefferson
OPPENHEIMER Christopher Nolan
POOR THINGS Tony McNamara
THE ZONE OF INTEREST* Jonathan Glazer
LEADING ACTRESS
FANTASIA BARRINO The Color Purple*
SANDRA HÜLLER Anatomy of a Fall
CAREY MULLIGAN Maestro
VIVIAN OPARAH Rye Lane
MARGOT ROBBIE Barbie
EMMA STONE Poor Things
The big surprise here is the absence of the Golden Globes winner Lily Gladstone for “Killers of the Flower Moon”; a real snub when Margot Robbie is nominated for “Barbie”. The other real surprise (in a good way) is the inclusion of Vivian Oparah in the list for “Rye Lane”: I bet there are some drinks being imbibed in the Oparah household tonight! I’d guess from that list that this would be Emma Stone’s to lose.
LEADING ACTOR
BRADLEY COOPER Maestro
COLMAN DOMINGO Rustin
PAUL GIAMATTI The Holdovers*
BARRY KEOGHAN Saltburn
CILLIAN MURPHY Oppenheimer
TEO YOO Past Lives
A strong category with Giamatti, Keoghan and Murphy on the list. The notable absence from the list is Andrew Scott for “All of us Strangers” when others from the cast have noms.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
EMILY BLUNT Oppenheimer
DANIELLE BROOKS The Color Purple*
CLAIRE FOY All of Us Strangers*
SANDRA HÜLLER The Zone of Interest*
ROSAMUND PIKE Saltburn
DA’VINE JOY RANDOLPH The Holdovers*
Four short in the category at the moment! But hope to fix that by the end of the month.
SUPPORTING ACTOR
ROBERT DE NIRO Killers of The Flower Moon
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. Oppenheimer
JACOB ELORDI Saltburn
RYAN GOSLING Barbie
PAUL MESCAL All of Us Strangers*
DOMINIC SESSA The Holdovers*
Good to see Jacob Elordi on this list for Saltburn.
ORIGINAL SCORE
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Robbie Robertson
OPPENHEIMER Ludwig Göransson
POOR THINGS Jerskin Fendrix
SALTBURN Anthony Willis
SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE Daniel Pemberton
Personally disappointed that Lorne Balfe’s score for Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves didn’t make this list. But it didn’t make the long-list either!
CASTING
ALL OF US STRANGERS* Kahleen Crawford
ANATOMY OF A FALL Cynthia Arra
THE HOLDOVERS Susan Shopmaker
HOW TO HAVE SEX Isabella Odoffin
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Ellen Lewis, Rene Haynes
CINEMATOGRAPHY
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Rodrigo Prieto
MAESTRO Matthew Libatique
OPPENHEIMER Hoyte van Hoytema
POOR THINGS Robbie Ryan
THE ZONE OF INTEREST* Łukasz Żal
EDITING
ANATOMY OF A FALL Laurent Sénéchal
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Thelma Schoonmaker
OPPENHEIMER Jennifer Lame
POOR THINGS Yorgos Mavropsaridis
THE ZONE OF INTEREST* Paul Watts
PRODUCTION DESIGN
BARBIE Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Jack Fisk, Adam Willis
OPPENHEIMER Ruth De Jong, Claire Kaufman
POOR THINGS Shona Heath, James Price, Zsuzsa Mihalek
THE ZONE OF INTEREST* Chris Oddy, Joanna Maria Kuś, Katarzyna Sikora
COSTUME DESIGN
BARBIE Jacqueline Durran
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Jacqueline West
NAPOLEON Dave Crossman, Janty Yates
OPPENHEIMER Ellen Mirojnick
POOR THINGS Holly Waddington
MAKE UP & HAIR
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON Kay Georgiou, Thomas Nellen
MAESTRO Sian Grigg, Kay Georgiou, Kazu Hiro, Lori McCoy-Bell
NAPOLEON Jana Carboni, Francesco Pegoretti, Satinder Chumber, Julia Vernon
OPPENHEIMER Luisa Abel, Jaime Leigh McIntosh, Jason Hamer, Ahou Mofid
POOR THINGS Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier, Josh Weston
SOUND
FERRARI Angelo Bonanni, Tony Lamberti, Andy Nelson, Lee Orloff, Bernard Weiser
MAESTRO Richard King, Steve Morrow, Tom Ozanich, Jason Ruder, Dean Zupancic
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE Chris Burdon, James H. Mather, Chris Munro, Mark Taylor
OPPENHEIMER Willie Burton, Richard King, Kevin O’Connell, Gary A. Rizzo
THE ZONE OF INTEREST* Johnnie Burn, Tarn Willers
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
THE CREATOR Jonathan Bullock, Charmaine Chan, Ian Comley, Jay Cooper
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 Theo Bialek, Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART ONE Neil Corbould, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland, Alex Wuttke
NAPOLEON Henry Badgett, Neil Corbould, Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet
POOR THINGS Simon Hughes
Pleased to see “The Creator” on this list – thought the VFX were impressive.
BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
CRAB DAY* Ross Stringer, Bartosz Stanislawek, Aleksandra Sykulak
VISIBLE MENDING* Samantha Moore, Tilley Bancroft
WILD SUMMON* Karni Arieli, Saul Freed, Jay Woolley
One of the joys of last year was digging out and watching the short films, so will be looking forward to that again this year!
BRITISH SHORT FILM
FESTIVAL OF SLAPS Abdou Cissé, Cheri Darbon, George Telfer
GORKA Joe Weiland, Alex Jefferson
JELLYFISH AND LOBSTER Yasmin Afifi, Elizabeth Rufai
SUCH A LOVELY DAY Simon Woods, Polly Stokes, Emma Norton, Kate Phibbs
YELLOW Elham Ehsas, Dina Mousawi, Azeem Bhati, Yiannis Manolopoulos
EE RISING STAR AWARD
PHOEBE DYNEVOR
AYO EDEBIRI
JACOB ELORDI
MIA MCKENNA-BRUCE
SOPHIE WILDE
Vote for Mia Mckenna-Bruce people!!
Mia Mckenna-Bruce and me at the BFI!
