Over 6,500 BAFTA members around the world voted for the 2018 British Academy Film Awards and Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” led all films with 12 nominations. “Darkest Hour” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” each earned nine nominations with “Blade Runner 2049” and “Dunkirk” each.taking eight nods each. “Call Me by Your Name” and “Phantom Thread” took four each while “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool,” “I, Tonya,” “Lady Bird” and “Paddington 2” receive three nominations each.
“Three Billboards” and “Lady Bird” lead 2018 SAG Awards nominations
Notably, Steven Spielberg’s “The Post,” Dee Rees’ “Mudbound” and “The Big Sick” were completely snubbed.
Most importantly for awards watchers, the Best Film nominees were “Call Me By Your Name,” “Darkest Hour,” “Dunkirk,” “The Shape of Water” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” Prominent contenders “Lady Bird” and “Get Out” did not make the cut. Neither of those films directors, Greta Gerwig and Jordan Peele, were nominated for Best Director but were each recognized in the Original Screenplay category. The only other nomination for “Get Out” came for British actor David Kaluuya in the Lead Actor category.
Also of note for “Lady Bird” and “Get Out,” while eventual Best Picture winner “Moonlight” was snubbed in the Director category last year, it did earn four nominations including Best Film (it won no BAFTAs as “La La Land” ruled the night). So, missing out on a BAFTA Best Film nomination may mean something when it comes to winning the Academy Award for Best Picture. The last film to win the Best Picture Oscar without at least a BAFTA Film nomination was “Million Dollar Baby” in 2005.
Lead Actress features familiar players Frances McDormand (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Sally Hawkins (“The Shape of Water”), Saoirse Roman (“Lady Bird”) and Margot Robbie (“I, Tonya”). Instead of Judi Dench (“Victoria & Abdul) or Florence Pugh (“Lady Macbeth”), Annette Bening rounded out the field for “Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool.”
Lead Actor saw notable Oscar contenders such as Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”), Timothée Chalamet (“Call Me By Your Name”), Daniel Day-Lewis (“Phantom Thread”) and, as noted, Kalyuua. Rounding out the field wasn’t “The Disaster Artist’s” James Franco or “Roman J. Israel’s” Denzel Washington (still has not received a BAFTA nod once), but “Film Stars'” Jamie Bell.
Supporting Actress nominees includes Golden Globes winner Allison Janey (“I, Tonya”), Laurie Metcalf (“Lady Bird”) and Octavia Spencer (“The Shape of Water”). Somewhat unexpected were Lesley Manville (“Phantom Thread”) and Kristin Scott Thomas (“Darkest Hour”). Potential Oscar players Mary J. Blige (“Mudbound”) and Holly Hunter (“The Big Sick”) obviously did not make the cut.
Supporting Actor includes both Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell from “Three Billboards” along with Christopher Plummer (“All The Money In The World”), Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”) and, in a surprise only to Americans, Hugh Grant in the massively acclaimed “Paddington 2.” “The Shape of Water’s” Richard Jenkins will likely fill Grant’s slot as “Call Me’s” Michael Stuhlbarg and Armie Hammer appear to be on the outside looking in for Oscar.
Denis Villeneuve (“Blade Runner 2049”) joins Martin McDonagh (“Three Billboards”), Christopher Nolan (“Dunkirk”), Luca Guadagnino (“Call Me By Your Name”) and del Toro in the Directing field. Many expect Guadagnino to get passed over for Oscar, but Villeneuve shouldn’t be discounted. It’s still possible both Peele and Gerwig fill the remaining two slots when they are announced in two weeks.
The editing nominees, another telling indicator of industry appreciation, went to “Baby Driver,” “Blade Runner 2049,” “Dunkirk,” “The Shape of Water” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” While it’s Fox Searchlight stablemate led all films in nominations it cannot be discounted how much BAFTA voters loved “Three Billboards” as they shockingly gave it a Cinematography nomination over “Call Me By Your Name,” “Get Out” and even British favorites “God’s Own Country” and “Lady Macbeth.”
It’s worth noting that because of the release schedule calendar and how BAFTA qualifies films a number of Foreign Language Films (or Films Not In The English Language, in this case) were not eligible this year including “The Square” and “A Fantastic Woman.” That means this year “Elle,” “The Handmaiden” and last year’s Oscar winner, “The Salesman,” were now eligible and earned nominations. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean Isabelle Huppert made the Lead Actress field as Annette Bening made the cut, just one of many surprise nods for “Film Stars.”
There will no doubt be some concern about BAFTA voters ignoring “Mudbound,” but the organization did reward Netflix’s “First They Killed My Father,” directed by Angelina Jolie,” so the snub may not have had anything to do with the streaming service. Then again, BAFTA voters have a bad reputation for ignoring films with African-American themes or stars over the years.
Like the Foreign Language category Documentary also has films eligible for Oscar the prior year mixed in. The good news is new films “Icarus,” “Jane,” “City of Ghosts” and “An Inconvenient Sequel” all found BAFTA love before Oscar ballots were due.
The 71st BAFTA Awards will be handed out on Sunday, February 18 and be hosted by none other than Joanna Lumley (best known for “Absolutely Fabulous”) who replaces longtime host Stephen Fry.
The full list of nominees are as follows:
BEST FILM
“Call Me By Your Name,” Emilie Georges, Luca Guadagnino, Marco Morabito, Peter Spears
“Darkest Hour,” Tim Bevan, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski
“Dunkirk,” Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas
“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
“Darkest Hour,” Joe Wright, Tim Bevan, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski
“The Death of Stalin,” Armando Iannucci, Kevin Loader, Laurent Zeitoun, Yann Zenou, Ian Martin, David Schneider
“God’s Own Country,” Francis Lee, Manon Ardisson, Jack Tarling
“Lady Macbeth,” William Oldroyd, Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, Alice Birch
“Paddington 2,” Paul King, David Heyman, Simon Farnaby
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
“The Ghoul,” Gareth Tunley (Writer/Director/Producer), Jack Healy Guttman & Tom Meeten (Producers)
“I Am Not A Witch,” Rungano Nyoni (Writer/Director), Emily Morgan (Producer)
“Jawbone,” Johnny Harris (Writer/Producer), Thomas Napper (Director)
“Kingdom of Us,” Lucy Cohen (Director)
“Lady Macbeth,” Alice Birch (Writer), William Oldroyd (Director), Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (Producer)
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
“Elle,” Paul Verhoeven, Saïd Ben Saïd
“First They Killed My Father,” Angelina Jolie, Rithy Panh
“The Handmaiden,” Park Chan-wook, Syd Lim
“Loveless,” Andrey Zvyagintsev, Alexander Rodnyansky
“The Salesman,” Asghar Farhadi, Alexandre Mallet-Guy
DOCUMENTARY
“City of Ghosts,” Matthew Heineman
“I Am Not Your Negro,” Raoul Peck
“Icarus,” Bryan Fogel, Dan Cogan
“An Inconvenient Sequel,” Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk
“Jane,” Brett Morgen
ANIMATED FILM
“Coco,” Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson
“Loving Vincent,” Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Ivan Mactaggart
“My Life As A Courgette,” Claude Barras, Max Karli
DIRECTOR
“Blade Runner 2049,” Denis Villeneuve
“Call Me By Your Name,” Luca Guadagnino
“Dunkirk,” Christopher Nolan
“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Martin McDonagh
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Get Out,” Jordan Peele
“I, Tonya,” Steven Rogers
“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig
“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Martin McDonagh
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“Call Me By Your Name,” James Ivory
“The Death of Stalin,” Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, David Schneider
“Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool,” Matt Greenhalgh
“Molly’s Game,” Aaron Sorkin
“Paddington 2,” Simon Farnaby, Paul King
LEADING ACTRESS
Annette Bening, “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
LEADING ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Jamie Bell, “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool”
Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Allison Janey, “I, Tonya”
Kristen Scott Thomas, “Darkest Hour”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”
Hugh Grant, “Paddington 2”
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”
Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
ORIGINAL MUSIC
“Blade Runner 2049,” Benjamin Wallfisch, Hans Zimmer
“Darkest Hour,” Dario Marianelli
“Dunkirk” Hans Zimmer
“Phantom Thread,” Jonny Greenwood
“The Shape of Water,” Alexandre Desplat
CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Blade Runner 2049,” Roger Deakins
“Darkest Hour,” Bruno Delbonnel
“Dunkirk,” Hoyte van Hoytema
“The Shape of Water,” Dan Laustsen
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Ben Davis
EDITING
“Baby Driver,” Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss
“Blade Runner 2049,” Joe Walker
“Dunkirk,” Lee Smith
“The Shape of Water,” Sidney Wolinsky
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Jon Gregory
PRODUCTION DESIGN
“Beauty and the Beast,” Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
“Blade Runner 2049,” Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola
“Darkest Hour,” Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
“Dunkirk,” Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis
“The Shape of Water,” Paul Austerberry, Jeff Melvin, Shane Vieau
COSTUME DESIGN
“Beauty and the Beast,” Jacqueline Durran
“Darkest Hour,” Jacqueline Durran
“I, Tonya,” Jennifer Johnson
“Phantom Thread,” Mark Bridges
“The Shape of Water,” Luis Sequeira
MAKE UP & HAIR
“Blade Runner 2049,” Donald Mowat, Kerry Warn
“Darkest Hour,” David Malinowski, Ivana Primorac, Lucy Sibbick, Kazuhiro Tsuji
“I, Tonya,” Deborah La Mia Denaver, Adruitha Lee
“Victoria & Abdul,” Daniel Phillips
“Wonder,” Naomi Bakstad, Robert A. Pandini, Arjen Tuiten
SOUND
“Baby Driver,” Tim Cavagin, Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater
“Blade Runner 2049,” Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Mark Mangini, Mac Ruth
“Dunkirk,” Richard King, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, Mark Weingarten
“The Shape of Water,” Christian Cooke, Glen Gauthier, Nathan Robitaille, Brad Zoern
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Stuart Wilson, Matthew Wood
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
“Blade Runner 2049” Gerd Nefzer, John Nelson
“Dunkirk,” Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson
“The Shape of Water,” Dennis Berardi, Trey Harrell, Kevin Scott
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Nominees tbc
“War for the Planet of the Apes,” Nominees tbc
BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
“Have Heart,” Will Anderson
“Mamoon,” Ben Steer
“Poles Apart,” Paloma Baeza, Ser En Low
BRITISH SHORT FILM
“Aamir,” Vika Evdokimenko, Emma Stone, Oliver Shuster
“Cowboy Dave,” Colin O’Toole, Jonas Mortensen
“A Drowning Man,” Mahdi Fleifel, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Patrick Campbell
“Work,” Aneil Karia, Scott O’Donnell
“Wren Boys,” Harry Lighton, Sorcha Bacon, John Fitzpatrick
EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
Daniel Kaluuya
Florence Pugh
Josh O’Connor
Tessa Thompson
Timothée Chalamet