The British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) nominations were unveiled Feb. 3, and there were several surprises.
Denis Villeneuve's grand sci-fi spectacle Dune led all films with 11 nominations, as there are 48 films that will be vying for gold statuettes at the ceremony on March 13, per The Hollywood Reporter.
Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog received eight nominations, while Kenneth Branagh's Belfast garnered six nods.
Benedict Cumberbatch, Will Smith and Leonardo DiCaprio received best actor nominations (DiCaprio's sixth and Smith's first), along with two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali plus Brit stars Adeel Akhtar (for After Love) and Stephen Graham (Boiling Point). In the best actress, BAFTA favorite Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter) and Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos) were left off the list, with After Love star Joanna Scanlan, Passing's Tessa Thompson and The Worst Person in the World's Renate Reinsve joining Lady Gaga, Alana Haim and Emilia Jones.
One of the biggest surprises was the snubbing of queer actress Kristen Stewart in Spencer, the movie about Princess Diana. Another involved a movement toward diversity (Stewart's snub notwithstanding), as Aleem Khan (After Love), Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car), Audrey Diwan (Happening) and Palme d'Or winner Julia Ducournau (Titane) will vie for best director alongside Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza) and Campion.
The queer film Everybody's Talking About Jamie received a nod for Outstanding British Film, joining nine other movies that include House of Gucci, Last Night in Soho, No Time to Die, Belfast, After Love, Ali & Ava, Cyrano, Passing and Boiling Point. The LGBT movie Flee received a nod for best animated film, alongside Encanto, Luca and The Mitchells vs the Machines. Kodi Smit-McPhee, who plays a queer role in Power of the Dog, received two nods: for Best Supporting Actor (competing against Power of the Dog co-star Jesse Plemons, among others) and for the EE Rising Star Award, which involves the public voting.
