Conclave, a film revolving around a scheming group of cardinals in Rome electing a new Pope, leads this year’s Bafta Film Awards with 12 nominations.
Close behind is Emilia Pérez, a Netflix Spanish-language musical about a Mexican cartel leader who transitions to life as a transgender woman.
The acting categories are competitive, with Cynthia Erivo and Demi Moore among the nominees for lead actress, and Adrien Brody and Timothée Chalamet for lead actor.
However, Denzel Washington and Daniel Craig missed out, with their films Gladiator II and Queer not earning nominations.
Some surprising nominations include Hugh Grant in the lead actor category for Heretic and Saoirse Ronan as leading actress for The Outrun.
In the supporting actress category, Jamie Lee Curtis earned a nod for The Last Showgirl, while the film’s lead actress, Pamela Anderson, was notably absent from the list. Anora, which follows a romance between a New York sex worker and a wealthy Russian oligarch’s son, has seven nominations, including Best Film.
Mikey Madison is nominated for Best Actress, while her co-star, Yura Borisov, is up for Best Supporting Actor. Director Sean Baker has also received his first Bafta Best Director nomination.
The Best Director category features many first-time nominees, including Brady Corbet for The Brutalist, which earned nine nominations.
Coralie Fargeat, the only female nominee in the category for The Substance, is another first-time director whose nomination is making waves.
Conclave director Edward Berger, who also earned a Best Director nomination, expressed gratitude for his crew’s efforts in achieving the film’s 12 nominations.
Another film drawing attention this awards season is A Complete Unknown, which chronicles Bob Dylan’s rise to fame in the 1960s.
It received six nominations, including Best Film, with Timothée Chalamet and Edward Norton up for acting awards. Kneepcap, the story of an Irish-speaking hip-hop trio, also earned six nominations, including Outstanding British Film.
Blockbuster films like Dune: Part Two and Wicked performed well, each receiving seven nominations.
However, Gladiator II was left out of the acting categories, with no nods for Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, or Denzel Washington. The film also did not receive a Best Director nomination for Ridley Scott.
This year also marks the debut of a dedicated category for children’s and family films, with Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, The Wild Robot, and Kensuke’s Kingdom all vying for recognition.
The animated feature category also includes Flow, a dialogue-free film that surprised at the Golden Globes.
The Bafta Film Awards, hosted by David Tennant, will take place on 16 February at London’s Royal Festival Hall, where the nominations will likely serve as an important indicator for the upcoming Oscars.
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