Gravity conquers BAFTA nominations
Despite strong competition from its US rival 12 Years A Slave, Gravity leads Britain’s BAFTA.
Space thriller Gravity grabs 11 BAFTA nominations. PHOTO: FILE
LONDON:
Space thriller Gravity grabbed 11 BAFTA nominations on Wednesday, putting it just ahead of the pack at Britain's top film honours, while 12 Years A Slave and American Hustle are in the running in 10 categories.
Gravity, starring Oscar-winning actors Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, was shortlisted in categories including Best Film, Best Actress, Best Director for Alfonso Cuaron, Best Sound and Visual Effects, and Outstanding British Film.
The nomination for Outstanding British Film gave Gravity the edge over US rivals in a highly competitive year in which the unflinching slavery drama 12 Years A Slave, from British director Steve McQueen, is topping many US award nomination lists.
This film is heading the nominations across the Atlantic for the January 12 Golden Globe awards and is a favorite for the Oscars on March 2. Its British lead actor, Chiwetel Ejiofor, is also nominated for the BAFTA Best Actor prize.
Ejiofor, 36, gained recognition as the lead in the 2002 dark crime thriller Dirty Pretty Things, but his role in 12 Years A Slave as a free man kidnapped and sold into slavery has thrust him into the limelight, garnering him multiple award nominations.
“I continue to be immensely proud of the recognition this film is getting around the world. There is, of course, something particularly special about receiving a BAFTA nomination from home,” Ejiofor said in a statement.
Other films competing for the BAFTA Best Film award are ’70s con-men caper American Hustle, Somali pirate thriller Captain Phillips, and the heart-tugging adoption drama Philomena.
Of these five films vying for the top prize, all but Philomena are also competing for the Best Director award.
The BAFTAs have had a patchy record in predicting which films go on to scoop the biggest movie honours, the Academy Awards, although the main winners in London in the past two years, The Artist and Argo, stormed to a Best Picture victory at the Academy Awards in their respective years.
The awards ceremony for the BAFTAs, formally called the EE British Academy Film Awards, takes place in London on February 16.
Following is a list of nominees for the main categories:
Best Film
12 Years A Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Philomena
Outstanding British Film
Gravity
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Philomena
Rush
Saving Mr Banks
The Selfish Giant
Best Director
Steve McQueen/ 12 Years A Slave
David O. Russell/ American Hustle
Paul Greengrass/ Captain Phillips
Alfonso Cuaron/ Gravity
Martin Scorsese/ The Wolf of Wall Street
Best Film not in the English language
The Act of Killing
Blue is the Warmest Colour
The Great Beauty
Metro Manila
Wadjda
Best Documentary
Joshua Oppenheimer/ The Act of Killing
Alex Gibney/ The Armstrong Lie
Gabriela Cowperthwaite/Blackfish
Teller, Penn Jillette, Farley Ziegler/ Tim's Vermeer
Alex Gibney/ We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks
Best Animated Film
Despicable Me 2
Frozen
Monsters University
Original Screenplay
Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell/American Hustle
Woody Allen/ Blue Jasmine
Alfonso Cuaron, Jonas Cuaron/ Gravity
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen/Inside Llewyn Davis
Bob Nelson/Nebraska
Best Leading Actor
Bruce Dern/Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor/12 Years A Slave
Christian Bale/American Hustle
Leonardo Dicaprio/The Wolf of Wall Street
Tom Hanks/Captain Phillips
Best Leading Actress
Amy Adams/American Hustle
Cate Blanchett/Blue Jasmine
Emma Thompson/Saving Mr Banks
Judi Dench/Philomena
Sandra Bullock/ Gravity
Best Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi/Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper/American Hustle
Daniel Bruhl/Rush
Matt Damon/Behind the Candelabra
Michael Fassbender/12 Years A Slave
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Lawrence/American Hustle
Julia Roberts/August: Osage County
Lupita Nyong'O/12 Years A Slave
Oprah Winfrey/The Butler
Sally Hawkins/Blue Jasmine
Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2014.
Space thriller Gravity grabbed 11 BAFTA nominations on Wednesday, putting it just ahead of the pack at Britain's top film honours, while 12 Years A Slave and American Hustle are in the running in 10 categories.
Gravity, starring Oscar-winning actors Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, was shortlisted in categories including Best Film, Best Actress, Best Director for Alfonso Cuaron, Best Sound and Visual Effects, and Outstanding British Film.
The nomination for Outstanding British Film gave Gravity the edge over US rivals in a highly competitive year in which the unflinching slavery drama 12 Years A Slave, from British director Steve McQueen, is topping many US award nomination lists.
This film is heading the nominations across the Atlantic for the January 12 Golden Globe awards and is a favorite for the Oscars on March 2. Its British lead actor, Chiwetel Ejiofor, is also nominated for the BAFTA Best Actor prize.
Ejiofor, 36, gained recognition as the lead in the 2002 dark crime thriller Dirty Pretty Things, but his role in 12 Years A Slave as a free man kidnapped and sold into slavery has thrust him into the limelight, garnering him multiple award nominations.
“I continue to be immensely proud of the recognition this film is getting around the world. There is, of course, something particularly special about receiving a BAFTA nomination from home,” Ejiofor said in a statement.
Other films competing for the BAFTA Best Film award are ’70s con-men caper American Hustle, Somali pirate thriller Captain Phillips, and the heart-tugging adoption drama Philomena.
Of these five films vying for the top prize, all but Philomena are also competing for the Best Director award.
The BAFTAs have had a patchy record in predicting which films go on to scoop the biggest movie honours, the Academy Awards, although the main winners in London in the past two years, The Artist and Argo, stormed to a Best Picture victory at the Academy Awards in their respective years.
The awards ceremony for the BAFTAs, formally called the EE British Academy Film Awards, takes place in London on February 16.
Following is a list of nominees for the main categories:
Best Film
12 Years A Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Philomena
Outstanding British Film
Gravity
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Philomena
Rush
Saving Mr Banks
The Selfish Giant
Best Director
Steve McQueen/ 12 Years A Slave
David O. Russell/ American Hustle
Paul Greengrass/ Captain Phillips
Alfonso Cuaron/ Gravity
Martin Scorsese/ The Wolf of Wall Street
Best Film not in the English language
The Act of Killing
Blue is the Warmest Colour
The Great Beauty
Metro Manila
Wadjda
Best Documentary
Joshua Oppenheimer/ The Act of Killing
Alex Gibney/ The Armstrong Lie
Gabriela Cowperthwaite/Blackfish
Teller, Penn Jillette, Farley Ziegler/ Tim's Vermeer
Alex Gibney/ We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks
Best Animated Film
Despicable Me 2
Frozen
Monsters University
Original Screenplay
Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell/American Hustle
Woody Allen/ Blue Jasmine
Alfonso Cuaron, Jonas Cuaron/ Gravity
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen/Inside Llewyn Davis
Bob Nelson/Nebraska
Best Leading Actor
Bruce Dern/Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor/12 Years A Slave
Christian Bale/American Hustle
Leonardo Dicaprio/The Wolf of Wall Street
Tom Hanks/Captain Phillips
Best Leading Actress
Amy Adams/American Hustle
Cate Blanchett/Blue Jasmine
Emma Thompson/Saving Mr Banks
Judi Dench/Philomena
Sandra Bullock/ Gravity
Best Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi/Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper/American Hustle
Daniel Bruhl/Rush
Matt Damon/Behind the Candelabra
Michael Fassbender/12 Years A Slave
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Lawrence/American Hustle
Julia Roberts/August: Osage County
Lupita Nyong'O/12 Years A Slave
Oprah Winfrey/The Butler
Sally Hawkins/Blue Jasmine
Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2014.