Joker comes up trumps with 11 BAFTA nominations

..But chief 'disappointed' by lack of diversity

by Amber Wilkinson

Joker
Joker Photo: Warner Bros
Todd Phillips' superhero origin tale Joker leads the charge at this year's BAFTAs with 11 nominations, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor for its lead Joaquin Phoenix.

Martin Scorsese's The Irishman and Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood, directed by Quentin Tarrantino, weren't far behind, with 10 nominations each, while Sam Mendes' 1917 - a surprise winner at the weekend's Golden Globes - received nine nods.

But BAFTA came under fire on social media over the lack of diversity in the nomination list, with no female directors - which this year could easily have including Joanna Hogg for The Souvenir and Greta Gerwig for Little Women - making the shortlist for the seventh year in a row.

The hashtag #BAFTAsSoWhite also began trending as all the nominees in the four acting categories are white, with potential contenders including OFCS Best Actress winner Lupita N'yongo (Us), Cynthia Erivo (Harriet), Eddie Murphy (Dolemite Is My Name) and Golden Globe winner Awkwafina (The Farewell) among those snubbed. Oddly, Awkwafina has been included on the Rising Star list, despite already being in heavy grossing films including Jumanji: The Next Level. In contrast, Scarlett Johannsson and Margot Robbie picked up multiple nominations.

The Press Association reported that BAFTA chief Amanda Berry was "disappointed" by the lack of diversity. When asked on BBC Radio 4's today programme about the list seeming "very white", she said: "I'm going to totally agree with you. That's how I felt when I first saw the list.

"This isn't being disrespectful to anybody who has been nominated because it's an incredibly strong list this year. If you look at the director category, where I hoped we would see at least one female director."

On Twitter, Blue Story director Rapman wrote: "BAFTAs done Blue Story dirty. Numbers, impact, critic reviews we ticked all boxes but we were still snubbed from all nominations. Minus the rising star list. The lack of of black faces is ridiculous."

Short film director Nadia Latif (White Girl), also wrote: "Those BAFTA nominations are beyond a joke. It’s not funny to ignore the creative efforts of women and PoC artists. It’s not a hashtag. It’s another reminder that this industry does not welcome or want us and does not think we are good enough."

Winners and nominees in most categories are voted for by the 6500 BAFTA members, who are industry professionals working globally.

The awards ceremony, hosted by Graham Norton, will take place on February 25.

The full list of nominees is below:

Best Film

Director

Original Screenplay

Adapted Screenplay

Leading Actress

Leading Actor

Supporting Actress

Supporting Actor

Outstanding British Film

Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer

  • Bait, Mark Jenkin (writer/director), Kate Byers, Linn Waite (producers)
  • For Sama, Waad Al-Kateab (director/producer), Edward Watts (director)
  • Maiden, Alex Holmes (director)
  • Only You, Harry Wootliff (writer/director)
  • Retablo, Álvaro Delgado-Aparicio (writer/director) (also written by Héctor Gálvez)

Film Not In The English Language

Documentary

Animated Film

Original Score

Casting

Cinematography

Editing

Production Design

Costume Design

Make Up & Hair

  • 1917, Naomi Donne
  • Bombshell, Vivian Baker, Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan
  • Joker, Kay Georgiou, Nicki Ledermann
  • Judy, Jeremy Woodhead
  • Rocketman, Lizzie Yianni Georgiou

Sound

  • 1917, Scott Millan, Oliver Tarney, Rachael Tate, Mark Taylor, Stuart Wilson
  • Joker, Tod Maitland, Alan Robert Murray, Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic
  • Le Mans ’66, David Giammarco, Paul Massey, Steven A. Morrow, Donald Sylvester
  • Rocketman, Matthew Collinge, John Hayes, Mike Prestwood Smith, Danny Sheehan
  • Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, David Acord, Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio, Stuart Wilson, Matthew Wood

Special Visual Effects

British Short Animation

  • Grandad Was A Romantic, Maryam Mohajer
  • In Her Boots, Kathrin Steinbacher
  • The Magic Boat, Naaman Azhari, Lilia Laurel

British Short Film

  • Azaar, Myriam Raja, Nathanael Baring
  • Goldfish, Hector Dockrill, Harri Kamalanathan, Benedict Turnbull, Laura Dockrill
  • Kamali, Sasha Rainbow, Rosalind Croad
  • Learning To Skateboard In A Warzone (If You’re A Girl), Carol Dysinger, Elena Andreicheva
  • The Trap, Lena Headey, Anthony Fitzgerald

Rising Star Award

  • Awkwafina
  • Jack Lowden
  • Kaitlyn Dever
  • Kelvin Harrison Jr
  • Micheal Ward

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