Dune, Power Of The Dog, Belfast and Bond lead BAFTA nominations as blockbusters get spotlight

Dune has bagged the most nominations at this year’s BAFTA film awards with 11, followed by Netflix western The Power Of The Dog and Kenneth Branagh’s semi-autobiographical Belfast.

All three go up in the best film category, along with Adam McKay’s climate-comedy Don’t Look Up and Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1970s coming-of-age drama Licorice Pizza.

Dune, which was directed by Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, also gets nods in many of the technical categories, including cinematography and editing.

The full list of films and stars in the running

The Power Of The Dog has scored eight nominations, with Jane Campion up in the directing category, as well as Benedict Cumberbatch for leading actor, and Jesse Plemons and rising star nominee Kodi Smit-McPhee in the supporting actor list.

Sir Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, which is expected to have a successful awards season, gets six nods, including for outstanding British film, original screenplay, and supporting actor and actress for Ciaran Hinds and Caitriona Balfe.

Reacting to his nominations, Sir Kenneth said: “BAFTA’s recognition for Belfast is an amazing tribute to a remarkable part of the world. This news on top of the incredible box office support from UK cinema audiences is truly fantastic. We are humbly and delightfully gobsmacked!”

Elsewhere, Daniel Craig’s final outing as James Bond, No Time To Die, gets a number of nominations, notably for outstanding British film and cinematography.

Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed adaptation of West Side Story is also up for several gongs – though the iconic filmmaker is absent from the directing category, despite being a front-runner for the same Oscar.

The one-shot kitchen drama Boiling Point gets numerous nods, as does period musical Cyrano and the Will Smith-fronted sport biopic King Richard.

CODA, which is made up of a largely deaf cast, Ridley Scott’s House Of Gucci, and noir thriller Nightmare Alley also get recognition.

There is an even gender split in the direction category this year, with three men (Paul Thomas Anderson, Aleem Khan and Ryusuke Hamaguchi) and three women (Audrey Diwan, Jane Campion and Julia Ducournau) – a clear shift.

Not only that, but 19 of the 24 individuals nominated are first-time nominees and half of the top 12 most nominated films are British made, putting home-grown productions into the spotlight.

What about the snubs?

Spielberg and Sir Kenneth not making the best director categories will leave some scratching their heads, after both men garnered critical acclaim for West Side Story and Belfast, respectively.

They are widely expected to be in the running at the Oscars, though.

British award show favourite Olivia Colman misses out, despite her praiseworthy performance in The Lost Daughter (director Maggie Gyllenhaal is also absent from the list), as does Andrew Garfield – who had critics raving after his turn as musical theatre legend Jonathan Larson in the Lin-Manuel Miranda directed tick, tick… BOOM!

Also conspicuous in their absence are Kristen Stewart and Pablo Larrain – the star and director of Spencer. Despite huge awards buzz after the Diana film’s premiere in Venice last year, it has failed to make an impact with BAFTA voters.

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Krishnendu Majumdar, chair of BAFTA, said: “Two years ago, we launched a wide-ranging review into our voting, membership and campaigning processes and I want to thank the BAFTA members and the wider industry for embracing these changes.

“Our goal is to level the playing field for awards entries so that more films and the true diverse range of exceptional creative talent in the UK and internationally is represented and celebrated.

“With 48 films nominated today, we’re delighted to be able to shine a spotlight on such phenomenal breadth of stories and performances.”

The winners will be revealed at a ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall on 13 March.