The BAFTA Film Awards, set to go ahead with an in-person ceremony on March 13th this year, have released their round of nominees. Prominent among them we see Dune score 11 nominations. Entertainment lawyer Los angeles Brandon Blake has more for us.
Power of the Dog and Dune Dominate
Alongside these 11 nods to Dune, we see Power of the Dog, a hot Oscar contender at present, take 8. Belfast, another picture strongly in the Oscar running, received 6 in comparison. All three secured a best film nomination as part of their slate.
Licorice Pizza and Don’t Look Up, two others mentioned in the Oscar race but beginning to slide a little down the consideration lists, round out the best film category. Licorice Pizza, Daniel Craig’s final Bond outing, No Time to Die, and the West Side Story remake all brought in 5 nominations.
Best Director contenders include Aleem Khan (After Love), Jane Campion (Power of the Dog), Audrey Diwan (Happening), Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car), Julia Ducournau (Titane), and Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza).
Lady Gaga will no doubt be thrilled with her nomination for House of Gucci, bolstering her own Oscar race and rewarding a compelling performance. She takes nominations alongside Emilia Jones (CODA), Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza), Renate Reinsv (The Worst Person in the World), Joanna Scanlan (After Love), and Tessa Thompson (Passing).
Meanwhile, we see an unsurprising nomination for Benedict Cumberbatch as the lead rancher in Power of the Dog, with Will Smith also getting a nod for King Richard. Leonardo DiCaprio (Don’t Look Up), Mahershala Ali (Swan Song) Adeel Akhtar (Ali & Ava) and Stephen Graham (Boiling Point) complete the list.
Overall, 48 different pictures are represented in this year’s nomination slate.
A Broad Slate
It’s an oddly different slate of stories we’re seeing across the board, perhaps representative of the expanded BAFTA membership. We’ve also seen expanded director and acting categories, and a longlist voting round as major changes to the BAFTA inner workings.
It’s an interesting slate, with some heavy pointers to where Oscar nominations will go. The Blake & Wang P.A team will enjoy seeing who wins the prize.
Film and Television 