Bafta: “Conclave” and “Emilia Perez” lead the nominations

(Keystone-ATS) These nominations, which set the tone before those of the Oscars, confirm the momentum of “Emilia Perez” by Frenchman Jacques Audiard, awarded at Cannes and already a big winner at the Golden Globes where it won four awards in early January.

And the rewards don’t stop there. “Emilia Perez” won the best film prize at the European Film Prize in Lucerne at the beginning of December. Jacques Audiard won the awards for best director and best screenwriter while Spanish transgender actress Karla Sofia Gascon won best actress. The film also won an award at Cannes.

At the Baftas, this musical fresco on the gender transition of a Mexican drug trafficker was notably nominated in the category of best film, best foreign language film, best director for Jacques Audiard, best actress for Karla Sofía Gascón and best original music for the French Camille and Clément Ducol.

“Emilia Perez”: 11 Bafta nominations

In total, the film has 11 Bafta nominations and is only ahead of “Conclave”, by German filmmaker Edward Berger, nominated in 12 categories.

“Conclave”, which recounts the power games and betrayals during the election of a new pope, will among others compete in the category of best film, best director for Edward Berger – big winner of the Bafta two years ago with his adaptation of “Nothing New in the West” -, and best actor for the Briton Ralph Fiennes.

“The Brutalist”, a film in which Adrien Brody plays an architect who survived the Shoah, was nominated nine times, notably as best film.

Added to this category are “Anora”, winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and “A Complete Unknown”, a biopic of American musician Bob Dylan with Timothée Chalamet.

Frenchwoman Coralie Fargeat is the only woman nominated in the best director category for her gory and feminist fable “The Substance”. Denis Villeneuve (“Dune Part II”), Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”) and Sean Baker (“Anora”) are also nominated in this category.

“I’m so happy that we don’t just have what are typically considered ‘awards films’, which are dramas: we have horror films, sci-fi films, musicals! », rejoiced Anna Higgs, president of the Bafta Film Committee, to AFP.

“More open race”

Last year, Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster “Oppenheimer”, about the father of the atomic bomb, crushed the competition. But this year, “the race seems more open and it’s exciting,” she said.

Demi Moore, who won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of a former Hollywood star addicted to a youth serum, is nominated as best actress for her role in “The Substance.”

Described as a modern “Cinderella” tale, “Anora” is named seven times, like the musical “Wicked”, about the world of the Wizard of Oz.

The American Mikey Madison and the British Cynthia Erivo, stars of these two films, are nominated in the best actress category, with Marianne Jean-Baptiste (“Hard Truths”), Saoirse Ronan (“The Outrun”) and the revelation Karla Sofía Gascón (“Emilia Perez”).

Musical films have undoubtedly marked the year 2024, because spectators find “joy, a force of expression and inventiveness” in them, underlines Anna Higgs.

As for the actors, Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”), Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”), Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”), Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”), Hugh Grant (“Heretic”) and Sebastian Stan ( “The Apprentice”) will face each other.

“Kneecap”, a docu-fiction about a cheeky Northern Irish trio who rap in Gaelic, continues to enjoy unexpected success, garnering six nominations in the categories of best British film, casting and original screenplay.

The Baftas give great importance to British cinema. The films “Bird” by Andrea Arnold, “Blitz” by Steve McQueen, “Gladiator II” by Ridley Scott and the new “Wallace and Gromit” compete in a dedicated category.

The Bafta ceremony will take place on Sunday February 16 in London, two weeks before the Oscars in Los Angeles.

This city is still in the grip of devastating fires and the televised announcement of the nominations, postponed twice, will take place online on January 23.

The gala evening scheduled for March 2 is currently being maintained. The Critics Choice Awards ceremony, which was to be held on Sunday, had to be postponed.