Papal thriller “Conclave,” which stars Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal overseeing the election of a new pope, leads the race — just — for the British Academy Film Awards, with nominations in 12 categories, one more than the genre-busting trans musical “Emilia Pérez.”
But with the wildfires in Los Angeles over the past week fresh in the minds of everyone in the movie industry, Wednesday’s announcement of the latest BAFTA nominations was understandably subdued.
“We are very much thinking of our colleagues, friends, community over there,” said BAFTA chair Sara Putt. “It’s devastating what’s going on.”
She wouldn’t be drawn on whether the fires may impact the BAFTA ceremony, which is due to take place on Feb. 16.
“The ceremony is a month away, it would be inappropriate and far too early to say anything about that,” Putt said.
The five films nominated for the prestigious best film award were “Conclave,” “Emilia Pérez,” the 215-minute postwar epic “ The Brutalist,” the Palme d’Or-winning comedy/drama “ Anora “ and the Bob Dylan biopic “ A Complete Unknown.”
“The Brutalist” ended up with nine nominations, including leading actor for Adrien Brody, who faces stiff competition from Fiennes and Timothee Chalamet, who plays the young Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.”
The other actors nominated are Hugh Grant for his creepy role in the horror film “ Heretic,” Colman Domingo in real-life prison drama “ Sing Sing “ and Sebastian Stan for his portrayal of a real estate mogul — a certain Donald Trump — in “ The Apprentice.”
“Anora,” the sci-fi epic “Dune: Part Two” and “Wicked” each received seven nominations. “A Complete Unknown” received six nominations, as did “Kneecap,” the Irish-language hip-hop drama.
The prizes — officially called the EE BAFTA Film Awards — are Britain’s equivalent of Hollywood’s Academy Awards and will be watched closely for hints of who may win at the Oscars on March 3.
Putt lauded the variety in the list of nominations, noting that six different genres were represented on the best film list.
“There’s some really exciting stories in there and just a real glorious range of film-making this year,” she said.
She also highlighted that 14 of the 24 nominations in the acting categories were first-timers, and that whoever wins the best actress award will be a first-time BAFTA winner.
Demi Moore is in with a chance for that, having been nominated for lead actress for her role in the body horror film “ The Substance.”
Other notable female nominations for best supporting actress were Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande for their roles in “Emilia Pérez” and the musical “Wicked.”
Like other major movie awards, Britain’s film academy has introduced changes in recent years to increase diversity. In 2020, no women were nominated as best director for the seventh year running and all 20 nominees in the lead and supporting performer categories were white.
The voting process was rejigged to add a longlist round in the selection before the final nominees are voted on by the academy’s 8,000-strong membership of industry professionals.
Here’s a full rundown of the nominees:
BEST FILM
ANORA Alex Coco, Samantha Quan, Sean Baker
THE BRUTALIST TBD
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN Fred Berger, Alex Heineman, James Mangold
CONCLAVE Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Michael A. Jackman
EMILIA PÉREZ TBD
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
BIRD Andrea Arnold, Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Lee Groombridge
BLITZ Steve McQueen, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Anita Overland
CONCLAVE Edward Berger, Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Michael A. Jackman, Peter Straughan
GLADIATOR II Ridley Scott, Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, Michael Pruss, David Scarpa, Peter Craig
HARD TRUTHS Mike Leigh, Georgina Lowe
KNEECAP Rich Peppiatt, Trevor Birney, Jack Tarling, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, JJ Ó Dochartaigh
LEE Ellen Kuras, Kate Solomon, Kate Winslet, Liz Hannah, Marion Hume, John Collee, Lem Dobbs
LOVE LIES BLEEDING Rose Glass, Andrea Cornwell, Oliver Kassman, Wereonika Tofilska
THE OUTRUN Nora Fingscheidt, Sarah Brocklehurst, Dominic Norris, Jack Lowden, Saoirse Ronan, Amy Liptrot
WALLACE AND GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham, Richard Beek, Mark Burton
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
HOARD Luna Carmoon (Director, Writer)
KNEECAP Rich Peppiatt (Director, Writer)
MONKEY MAN Dev Patel (Director)
SANTOSH Sandhya Suri (Director, Writer), James Bowsher (Producer), Balthazar de Ganay (Producer) [also produced by Mike Goodridge, Alan McAlex]
SISTER MIDNIGHT Karan Kandhari (Director, Writer)
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT Payal Kapadia, Thomas Hakim
EMILIA PÉREZ Jacques Audiard, TBD
I’M STILL HERE (AINDA ESTOU AQUI) Walter Salles, TBD
KNEECAP Rich Peppiatt, Trevor Birney
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG Mohammad Rasoulof, Amin Sadraei
DOCUMENTARY
BLACK BOX DIARIES Shiori Ito, Hanna Aqvilin, Eric Nyari
DAUGHTERS Natalie Rae, Angela Patton, TBD
NO OTHER LAND Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor
SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui, Lizzie Gilliett, Robert Ford
WILL & HARPER Josh Greenbaum, Rafael Marmor, Christopher Leggett, Will Ferrell, Jessica Elbaum
ANIMATED FILM
FLOW Gints Siibalodis, Matīss Kaža
INSIDE OUT 2 Kelsey Mann, Mark Nielsen
WALLACE AND GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham, Richard Beek
THE WILD ROBOT Chris Sanders, Jeff Hermann
CHILDREN’S & FAMILY FILM
FLOW Gints Siibalodis, Matīss Kaža
KENSUKE’S KINGDOM Kirk Hendry, Neil Boyle, Camilla Deakin
WALLACE AND GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham, Richard Beek
THE WILD ROBOT Chris Sanders, Jeff Hermann
DIRECTOR
ANORA Sean Baker
THE BRUTALIST Brady Corbet
CONCLAVE Edward Berger
DUNE: PART TWO Denis Villeneuve
EMILIA PÉREZ Jacques Audiard
THE SUBSTANCE Coralie Fargeat
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
ANORA Written by Sean Baker
THE BRUTALIST Written by Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold
KNEECAP Writer Rich Peppiatt, Story by Rich Peppiatt, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, JJ Ó Dochartaigh
A REAL PAIN Written by Jesse Eisenberg
THE SUBSTANCE Written by Coralie Fargeat
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks
CONCLAVE Screenplay by Peter Straughan
EMILIA PÉREZ Written by Jacques Audiard
NICKEL BOYS Screenplay by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
SING SING Screenplay by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar,
Clarence ‘Divine Eye’ Maclin, John ‘Divine G’ Whitfield
LEADING ACTRESS
CYNTHIA ERIVO Wicked
KARLA SOFÍA GASCÓN Emilia Pérez
MARIANNE JEAN-BAPTISTE Hard Truths
MIKEY MADISON Anora
DEMI MOORE The Substance
SAOIRSE RONAN The Outrun
LEADING ACTOR
ADRIEN BRODY The Brutalist
TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET A Complete Unknown
COLMAN DOMINGO Sing Sing
RALPH FIENNES Conclave
HUGH GRANT Heretic
SEBASTIAN STAN The Apprentice
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
SELENA GOMEZ Emilia Pérez
ARIANA GRANDE Wicked
FELICITY JONES The Brutalist
JAMIE LEE CURTIS The Last Showgirl
ISABELLA ROSSELLINI Conclave
ZOE SALDAÑA Emilia Pérez
SUPPORTING ACTOR
YURA BORISOV Anora
KIERAN CULKIN A Real Pain
CLARENCE MACLIN Sing Sing
EDWARD NORTON A Complete Unknown
GUY PEARCE The Brutalist
JEREMY STRONG The Apprentice
CASTING
ANORA Sean Baker, Samantha Quan
THE APPRENTICE Stephanie Gorin, Carmen Cuba
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN Yesi Ramirez
CONCLAVE Nina Gold, Martin Ware
KNEECAP Carla Stronge
CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE BRUTALIST Lol Crawley
CONCLAVE Stéphane Fontaine
DUNE: PART TWO Greig Fraser
EMILIA PÉREZ Paul Guilhaume
NOSFERATU Jarin Blaschke
EDITING
ANORA Sean Baker
CONCLAVE Nick Emerson
DUNE: PART TWO Joe Walker
EMILIA PÉREZ Juliette Welfling
KNEECAP Julian Ulrichs, Chris Gill
COSTUME DESIGN
BLITZ Jacqueline Durran
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN Arianne Phillips
CONCLAVE Lisy Christl
NOSFERATU Linda Muir
WICKED Paul Tazewell
MAKE UP & HAIR
DUNE: PART TWO Love Larson, Eva Von Bahr
EMILIA PÉREZ Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier, Jean-Christophe Spadaccini, Romain Marietti
NOSFERATU David White, Traci Loader, Suzanne Stokes-Munton
THE SUBSTANCE Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, Frédérique Arguello, Marilyne Scarselli
WICKED Frances Hannon, Laura Blount, Sarah Nuth
ORIGINAL SCORE
THE BRUTALIST Daniel Blumberg
CONCLAVE Volker Bertelmann
EMILIA PÉREZ Camille, Clément Ducol
NOSFERATU Robin Carolan
THE WILD ROBOT Kris Bowers
PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE BRUTALIST Judy Becker, Patricia Cuccia
CONCLAVE Suzie Davies, Cynthia Sleiter
DUNE: PART TWO Patrice Vermette, Shane Vieau
NOSFERATU Craig Lathrop
WICKED Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales
SOUND
BLITZ John Casali, Paul Cotterell, James Harrison
DUNE: PART TWO Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Gareth John, Richard King
GLADIATOR II Stéphane Bucher, Matthew Collinge, Paul Massey Danny Sheehan
THE SUBSTANCE Valérie Deloof, Victor Fleurant, Victor Praud, Stéphane Thiébaut, Emmanuelle Villard
WICKED Robin Baynton, Simon Hayes, John Marquis, Andy Nelson, Nancy Nugent Title
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
BETTER MAN Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft, Peter Stubbs
DUNE: PART TWO Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Gerd Nefzer, Rhys Salcombe
GLADIATOR II Mark Bakowski, Neil Corbould, Nikki Penny, Pietro Ponti
KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Erik Winquist, Rodney Burke, Paul Story, Stephen Unterfranz
WICKED Pablo Helman, Paul Corbould, Jonathan Fawkner, Anthony Smith
BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
ADIÓS José Prats, Natalia Kyriacou, Bernardo Angeletti
MOG’S CHRISTMAS Robin Shaw, Joanna Harrison, Camilla Deakin, Ruth Fielding
WANDER TO WONDER Nina Gantz, Stienette Bosklopper, Simon Cartwright, Maarten Swart
BRITISH SHORT FILM
THE FLOWERS STAND SILENTLY, WITNESSING Theo Panagopoulos, Marissa Keating
MARION Joe Weiland, Finn Constantine, Marija Djikic
MILK Miranda Stern, Ashionye Ogene
ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS Franz Böhm, Ivan, Hayder Rothschild Hoozeer
STOMACH BUG Matty Crawford, Karima Sammout-Kanellopoulou
RISING STAR AWARD (announced earlier; voted for by the public)
MARISA ABELA
JHARREL JEROME
DAVID JONSSON
MIKEY MADISON
NABHAAN RIZWAN
