For the second year running, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) has delivered a surprising series of nominations for its annual awards. Half of the six nominees in best supporting actress are Irish.
Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, dubbed an Oscar favourite following its premiere last September, missed out on a few expected nods, but still managed a respectable six nominations – including one in the best film race. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune, heavily favoured in technical categories, was top of the charts with 11 mentions.
The Irish performance in best supporting actress is remarkable. Ruth Negga, from Limerick, is mentioned for her turn as an African-American woman “passing” as white in Rebecca Hall’s Passing.
Caitríona Balfe, a proud Monaghan woman, secured her expected nomination for playing a robust mother in Belfast.
Jessie Buckley, from Kerry, is mentioned for playing a younger version of the lead character in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter.
Balfe is nearly certain to receive an Oscar nomination. Negga, who has done well in precursor awards, also seems likely to figure. Buckley may struggle to make it into the American Academy’s final five – one fewer than at Bafta – when those shortlists are unveiled next Tuesday. That is a competitive race this year.
Ciarán Hinds, now skirting legendary status, secured an expected nod in best supporting actor for Belfast, but Jamie Dornan, who plays the dad in that nostalgic piece, will not be joining him at the starting gate.
The most surprising snub for Belfast was that of Branagh from the best director category. Too much should not, however, be read into that omission. For the past two years, Bafta, eager to increase diversity, has, rather than polling the entire membership, employed a jury to select the nominees.
Though the final vote will be with a wider electorate that has large crossover with the Oscar voters, today’s lists were always going to come more from leftfield.
Branagh remained bullish. “Bafta’s recognition for Belfast is an amazing tribute to a remarkable part of the world,” he said. “This news on top of the incredible box office support from UK and Irish cinema audiences is truly fantastic. We are humbly and delightfully gobsmacked!”
No race was more surprising than that for best actress. Missing were current Oscar favourite Nicole Kidman, who plays Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos, former Oscar favourite Kirsten Stewart, who once seemed a cert for playing Princess Diana in Spencer, and Olivia Colman, the most celebrated British actress of her generation, for her turn in The Lost Daughter.
Colman can console herself with the knowledge that, last year, local hero Carey Mulligan failed to score here and still walked into an Oscar nomination. The nominees were Lady Gaga for House of Gucci, Emilia Jones for CODA, Renate Reinsve for The Worst Person in the World, Alana Haim for Licorice Pizza, Joanna Scanlon for After Love and Tessa Thompson for Passing. When the vote goes back to the Bafta membership, Lady Gaga, as the only plausible Oscar contender, could end up winning by default.
Bafta continued its record of ignoring Denzel Washington – amazingly, he has never been nominated for the British awards – by leaving out his lead performance in The Tragedy of Macbeth.
The Irish director Ben Cleary, who won an Oscar for best live-action short in 2016, will, however, be happy to see Mahershala Ali nominated for his turn in the director’s debut feature Swan Song.
Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog missed out on an expected nomination for Kirsten Dunst in best supporting actress, but, with eight nominations, it still seems like a strong competitor for best picture at Bafta and the Oscars. The biggest loser of all here may have been Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. Recipient of excellent review, but tepid box office returns, the musical failed to score in best film or best director. Ariana DeBose could, however, still get past the Celtic contingent to triumph in best actress.
The 75th British Academy Film Awards will be presented at the Royal Albert Hall on March 13th.
THE NOMINATIONS IN FULL
Best film
Belfast
Don't Look Up
Dune
Licorice Pizza
The Power of the Dog
Outstanding British film
After Love
Ali & Ava
Belfast
Boiling Point
Cyrano
Everybody's Talking About Jamie
House of Gucci
Last Night in Soho
No Time to Die
Passing
Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer
After Love
Boiling Point
The Harder They Fall
Keyboard Fantasies
Passing
Best film not in the English language
Drive My Car
The Hand of God
Parallel Mothers
Petite Maman
The Worst Person in the World
Best documentary
Becoming Cousteau
Cow
Flee
The Rescue
Summer of Soul
Best animated film
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs the Machines
Best director
Aleem Khan (After Love)
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car)
Audrey Diwan (Happening)
Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)
Julia Ducournau (Titane)
Best original screenplay
Aaron Sorkin (Being the Ricardos)
Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)
Adam McKay (Don't Look Up)
Zach Baylin (King Richard)
Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)
Best adapted screenplay
Sian Heder (Coda)
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car)
Denis Villeneuve (Dune)
Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter)
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)
Best actress
Lady Gaga (House of Gucci)
Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza)
Emilia Jones (Coda)
Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World)
Joanna Scanlan (After Love)
Tessa Thompson (Passing)
Best actor
Adeel Akhtar (Ali & Ava)
Mahershala Ali (Swan Song)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Don't Look Up)
Stephen Graham (Boiling Point)
Will Smith (King Richard)
Best supporting actress
Caitríona Balfe (Belfast)
Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter)
Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)
Ann Dowd (Mass)
Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)
Ruth Negga (Passing)
Best supporting actor
Mike Faist (West Side Story)
Ciarán Hinds (Belfast)
Troy Kotsur (Coda)
Woody Norman (C'mon C'mon)
Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog)
Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog)
Best original score
Being the Ricardos
Don't Look Up
Dune
The French Dispatch
The Power of the Dog
Best casting
Boiling Point
Dune
The Hand of God
King Richard
West Side Story
Best cinematography
Dune
Nightmare Alley
No Time to Die
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Best editing
Belfast
Dune
Licorice Pizza
No Time to Die
Summer of Soul
Best production design
Cyrano
Dune
The French Dispatch
Nightmare Alley
West Side Story
Best costume design
Cruella
Cyrano
Dune
The French Dispatch
Nightmare Alley
Best makeup and hair
Cruella
Cyrano
Dune
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
House of Gucci
Best sound
Dune
Last Night in Soho
No Time to Die
A Quiet Place Part II
West Side Story
Best special visual effects
Dune
Free Guy
Ghostbusters: Afterlife
The Matrix Resurrections
No Time to Die
Best British short animation
Affairs of the Art
Do Not Feed the Pigeons
Night of the Living Dread
Best British short film
The Black Cop
Femme
The Palace
Stuffed
Three Meetings of the Extraordinary Committee
Rising Star Award (voted for by the public)
Ariana DeBose
Harris Dickinson
Lashana Lynch
Millicent Simmonds
Kodi Smit-McPhee
