Posters of Dune and The Power of the Dog
Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic "Dune" on Thursday amassed the most nominations for 2022 BAFTA Awards, closely followed by Jane Campion’s Western film "The Power of the Dog". The nominations were unveiled by British TV personalities AJ Odudu and Tom Allen and "Dune", based on author Frank Herbert's 1965 novel, earned 11 nominations, including best film, adapted screenplay, original score, and all eight technical categories.
Campion's "Power of the Dog" received eight nominations with lead star Benedict Cumberbatch securing a spot in best actor category, while his co-stars, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-Mcphee, are nominated for the best supporting actor.
"Belfast", a period drama directed by Kenneth Branagh, was the third-most-nominated title overall with six, followed by Paul Thomas Anderson's "Licorice Pizza", James Bond movie "No Time To Die" and Steven Spielberg-directed musical "West Side Story", with each securing five nods.
Starting with "Dune" doing exceedingly well, there were surprises aplenty during the nominations as films like Maggie Gyllenhaal's "The Lost Daughter", Nicole Kidman-starrer "Being The Ricardos", Andrew Garfield's musical "Tick Tick … Boom!" and Ethan Coen's "Macbeth" were snubbed in major categories.
In the best film race, "Dune" is joined by Adam McKay's "Don’t Look Up”, "Belfast", “Licorice Pizza” and “The Power of the Dog”.
Lady Gaga ("House Of Gucci") leads the best actress category, where Alana Haim ("Licorice Pizza"), Emilia Jones ("Coda"), Renate Reinsve ("The Worst Person In The World"), Joanna Scanlan ("After Love") and Tessa Thompson ("Passing") are also set to vie for the trophy.
Olivia Colman, the lead star of "The Lost Daughter", and Kidman failed to secure a spot in the category.
In the best actor category, Cumberbatch will go up against Mahershala Ali (“Swan Song”), Leonardo DiCaprio (“Don’t Look Up”), Stephen Graham (“Boiling Point”), Will Smith (“King Richard”) and Adeel Akhtar (“Ali & Ava”).
Garfield and Washington, who received unanimous praise for their performances in Lin Manuel Miranda's "Tick Tick Boom!" and "Macbeth, respectively, were overlooked in the category.
There were many surprises in the best director category as Branagh and Villeneuve failed to make the cut despite multiple nominations for their films, whereas Ryusuke Hamaguchi found a spot for his Japanese feature film "Drive My Car".
The Japanese filmmaker is nominated alongside Campion, Anderson, Aleem Khan (“After Love”), Audrey Diwan (“Happening”) and Julia Ducournau ("Titane”).
However, both Branagh and Villeneuve are nominated in the screenplay categories.
Branagh found a spot in best original screenplay segment that also includes Aaron Sorkin of "Being The Ricardos", Adam Mckay ("Don’t Look Up"), Zach Baylin ("King Richard") and Anderson ("Licorice Pizza").
Villeneuve will vie for the best adapted screenplay trophy along with Hamaguchi, Gyllenhaal, Campion and Sian Heder of "Coda".
Caitriona Balfe of “Belfast” and Jessie Buckley of “The Lost Daughter” are the notable names in the best supporting actress category, which also includes Ariana Debose (“West Side Story”), Ann Dowd (“Mass”), Aunjanue Ellis (“King Richard”) and Ruth Negga (“Passing”).
In the best supporting actor category, Plemons and Smit-McPhee will go up against Mike Faist (“West Side Story”), Ciaran Hinds (“Belfast”), Troy Kotsur (“Coda”) and Woody Norman (“C’mon C’mon”).
Hamaguchi's "Drive My Car" leads the best film not in the english language category and is nominated alongside Paolo Sorrentino's “The Hand of God”, Pedro Almodovar's "Parallel Mothers”, Celine Sciamma's French movie “Petite Maman” and Danish director Joachim Trier's “The Worst Person in the World”.
According to the British Academy, the nominations include 48 films, just slightly down from the 50 titles in 2021.
In the performance categories, 19 of 24 nominees are receiving their first BAFTA film nomination, whereas in the directing category, there’s an equal split between female and male directors.
Overall, there’s an increase in the number of female directors nominated in total across all categories, up to 12 versus the eight in 2021.
Rebel Wilson will be hosting the 2022 ceremony, which will take place at the Royal Albert Hall on March 13.
