Rocks and Nomadland lead the race as the nominations for this year’s BAFTAs are unveiled.
The BAFTAs have unveiled a notably diverse list of nominations for the 2021 awards, with Sarah Gavron’s coming-of-age drama Rocks and Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland emerging as frontrunners with seven nominations each.
Gavron and Zhao are among the record number of four women nominated in the best director category.
Rocks, which was backed by the BFI Film Fund, also received nominations for leading actress for Bukky Bakray, supporting actress for Kosar Ali and outstanding British film.
The Father, Mank, Minari and Promising Young Woman each follow with six nominations.
Other films with BFI backing receiving nominations include Limbo (for outstanding British film and outstanding debut), Saint Maud (outstanding debut) and Ammonite (costume design). The BFI has also supported the releases of Minari, Sound of Metal (four nominations) and Les Misérables with National Lottery money.
Two films distributed by the BFI are nominated: Mogul Mowgli for outstanding British film and County Lines for best supporting actress for Ashley Madekwe. County Lines’ young star Conrad Khan is in the running for the EE Rising Star award.
Nominated films that first screened to UK audiences at the BFI London Film Festival include Nomadland, Rocks, Saint Maud, Another Round, Soul, Wolfwalkers, Ammonite and Limbo.
The winners will be announced on 11 April.
Best film
- The Father – Philippe Carcassonne, Jean-Louis Livi, David Parfitt
- The Mauritanian – tbc
- Nomadland – Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Chloé Zhao
- Promising Young Woman – Ben Browning, Emerald Fennell, Ashley Fox, Josey McNamara
- The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Stuart Besser, Marc Platt
Outstanding British film
- Calm with Horses – Nick Rowland, Daniel Emmerson, Joe Murtagh
- The Dig – Simon Stone, Gabrielle Tana, Moira Buffini
- The Father – Florian Zeller, Philippe Carcassone, Jean-Louis Livi, David Parfitt, Christopher Hampton
- His House – Remi Weekes, Martin Gentles, Edward Kings, Roy Lee
- Limbo – Ben Sharrock, Irune Gurtubai, Angus Lamont
- The Mauritanian – Kevin Macdonald, Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani, M.B. Traven
- Mogul Mowgli – Bassam Tariq, Riz Ahmed, Thomas Benski, Bennett McGhee
- Promising Young Woman – Emerald Fennell, Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Josey McNamara
- Rocks – Sarah Gavron, Ameenah Ayub Allen, Faye Ward, Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson
- Saint Maud – Rose Glass, Andrea Cornwell, Oliver Kassman
Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer
- His House – Remi Weekes (writer/director)
- Limbo – Ben Sharrock (writer/director), Irune Gurtubai (producer) [also produced by Angus Lamont]
- Moffie – Jack Sidey (writer/producer) [also written by Oliver Hermanus and produced by Eric Abraham]
- Rocks – Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson (writers)
- Saint Maud – Rose Glass (writer/director), Oliver Kassman (producer) [also produced by Andrea Cornwell]
Film not in the English language
- Another Round – Thomas Vinterberg, Sisse Graum Jørgensen
- Dear Comrades! – Andrei Konchalovsky, Alisher Usmanov
- Les Misérables – Ladj Ly
- Minari – Lee Isaac Chung, Christina Oh
- Quo Vadis, Aida? – Jasmila Žbanić, Damir Ibrahimovich
Documentary
- Collective – Alexander Nanau
- David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet – Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes, Keith Scholey
- The Dissident – Bryan Fogel, Thor Halvorssen
- My Octopus Teacher – Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed, Craig Foster
- The Social Dilemma – Jeff Orlowski, Larissa Rhodes
Animated film
- Onward – Dan Scanlon, Kori Rae
- Soul – Pete Docter, Dana Murray
- Wolfwalkers – Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young
Director
- Another Round – Thomas Vinterberg
- Babyteeth – Shannon Murphy
- Minari – Lee Isaac Chung
- Nomadland – Chloé Zhao
- Quo Vadis, Aida? – Jasmila Žbanić
- Rocks – Sarah Gavron
Original screenplay
- Another Round – Tobias Lindholm, Thomas Vinterberg
- Mank – Jack Fincher
- Promising Young Woman – Emerald Fennell
- Rocks – Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson
- The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Aaron Sorkin
Adapted screenplay
- The Dig – Moira Buffini
- The Father – Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller
- The Mauritanian – Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani, M.b. Traven
- Nomadland – Chloé Zhao
- The White Tiger – Ramin Bahrani
Leading actress
- Bukky Bakray – Rocks
- Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version
- Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman
- Frances McDormand – Nomadland
- Wunmi Mosaku – His House
- Alfre Woodard – Clemency
Leading actor
- Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal
- Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
- Adarsh Gourav – The White Tiger
- Anthony Hopkins – The Father
- Mads Mikkelsen – Another Round
- Tahar Rahim – The Mauritanian
Supporting actress
- Niamh Algar – Calm with Horses
- Kosar Ali – Rocks
- Maria Bakalova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
- Dominique Fishback – Judas and the Black Messiah
- Ashley Madekwe – County Lines
- Yuh-Jung Youn – Minari
Supporting actor
- Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah
- Barry Keoghan – Calm with Horses
- Alan Kim – Minari
- Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night in Miami…
- Clarke Peters – Da 5 Bloods
- Paul Raci – Sound of Metal
Original score
- Mank – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
- Minari – Emile Mosseri
- News of the World – James Newton Howard
- Promising Young Woman – Anthony Willis
- Soul – Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Casting
- Calm with Horses – Shaheen Baig
- Judas and the Black Messiah – Alexa L. Fogel
- Minari – Julia Kim
- Promising Young Woman – Lindsay Graham Ahanonu, Mary Vernieu
- Rocks – Lucy Pardee
Cinematography
- Judas and the Black Messiah – Sean Bobbitt
- Mank – Erik Messerschmidt
- The Mauritanian – Alwin H. Küchler
- News of the World – Dariusz Wolski
- Nomadland – Joshua James Richards
Editing
- The Father – Yorgos Lamprinos
- Nomadland – Chloé Zhao
- Promising Young Woman – Frédéric Thoraval
- Sound of Metal – Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
- The Trial of the Chicago 7 – Alan Baumgarten
Production design
- The Dig – Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald
- The Father – Peter Francis, Cathy Featherstone
- Mank – Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale
- News of the World – David Crank, Elizabeth Keenan
- Rebecca – Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
Costume design
- Ammonite – Michael O’Connor
- The Dig – Alice Babidge
- Emma – Alexandra Byrne
- Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Ann Roth
- Mank – Trish Summerville
Make up and hair
- The Dig – Jenny Shircore
- Hillbilly Elegy – Patricia Dehaney, Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle
- Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Matiki Anoff, Larry M. Cherry, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal
- Mank – Kimberley Spiteri, Gigi Williams
- Pinocchio – Mark Coulier
Sound
- Greyhound – tbc
- News of the World – Michael Fentum, William Miller, Mike Prestwood Smith, John Pritchett, Oliver Tarney
- Nomadland – Sergio Diaz, Zach Seivers, M. Wolf Snyder
- Soul – Coya Elliott, Ren Klyce, David Parker
- Sound of Metal – Jaime Baksht, Nicolas Becker, Phillip Bladh, Carlos Cortés, Michelle Couttolenc
Special visual effects
- Greyhound – Pete Bebb, Nathan McGuinness, Sebastian Von Overheidt
- The Midnight Sky – Matt Kasmir, Chris Lawrence, David Watkins
- Mulan – Sean Faden, Steve Ingram, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury
- The One and Only – Ivan Santiago Colomo Martinez, Nick Davis, Greg Fisher
- Tenet – Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lockley
British short animation
- The Fire Next Time – Renaldho Pelle, Yanling Wang, Kerry Jade Kolbe
- The Owl and the Pussycat – Mole Hill, Laura Duncalf
- The Song of a Lost Boy – Daniel Quirke, Jamie Macdonald, Brid Arnstein
British short film
- Eyelash – Jesse Lewis Reece, Ike Newman
- Lizard – Akinola Davies, Rachel Dargavel, Wale Davies
- Lucky Break – John Addis, Rami Sarras Pantoja
- Miss Curvy – Ghada Eldemellawy
- The Present – Farah Nabulsi
EE Rising Star award (voted for by the public)
- Bukky Bakray
- Conrad Khan
- Kingsley Ben-Adir
- Morfydd Clark
- Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù