The portrait of the father of the atomic bomb Oppenheimer, which has already won numerous international awards, leads the BAFTA nominations, with a total of 13. It is notably found in the category of best film, best director for Christopher Nolan and best actor for Cillian Murphy. The British Film Awards will be presented on February 18.
Behind him, the black comedy Poor Things (Poor creatures) inspired by Frankenstein signed Yorgos Lanthimos and winner of the Golden Lion at the last Venice Film Festival, is nominated in 11 categories, including best actress for American star Emma Stone.
Martin Scorsese’s historical fresco Killers of the Flower Moon (The American note) obtains nine nominations, as The Zone of Interest (The area of interest), chilling film about the daily life of the commander of the Nazi extermination camp of Auschwitz and winner of the Cannes Grand Prix.
The French film Anatomy of a fall garnered seven nominations. The film, which traces the trial of a woman accused of having killed her husband, is in the running for best film, best foreign language film, best director for Justine Triet, best screenplay and even best actress for Sandra Hüller . The winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes confirms his international success after the Golden Globes, where he won two awards, and the Critics Choice Awards, with the hope of marking the Oscars in the spring as The Artist a decade ago.
“This year’s selection is very exciting, and I think its key word is variety,” said Sara Putt, president of BAFTA, who hopes that this diversity “will encourage people to go to the cinema”.
The nominated films are “complex, interesting, often very demanding, and they require real engagement from viewers,” she continued.
Christopher Nolan, Justine Triet, Bradley Cooper (Maestro), Jonathan Glazer (The Zone Of Interest), Alexander Paine (The Holdovers) and Andrew Haigh (All of Us Strangers), all five of whom are in the running for the best director award, have never won the statuette in the past.
As for British cinema, the disturbing Saltburn by director Emerald Fennell garners five nominations, including three for its actors Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi and Rosamund Pike.
The British revelation How to have sex by young director Molly Manning Walker, who questions the thrill of first encounters and the limits of consent, received three nominations, after winning the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes.
The BAFTA ceremony, like that of the Golden Globes, gives a preview of the Oscars, which are awarded in March in Los Angeles.