With awards season moving at a brisk pace, BAFTA have made headlines today with their list of film nominations for 2020.

The psychological thriller Joker is out in front with a dominant eleven nominations, including a place on the Best Film shortlist.

The film, which follows a failed clown and his descent into mental illness, also landed double mentions for filmmaker Todd Phillips in both the Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay categories.

Following his Golden Globe win on Sunday evening, Joaquin Phoenix scored another Leading Actor nod for his portrayal of the mentally-troubled comedian Arthur Fleck.

 

The joint-second most nominations are accumulated by the crime epic The Irishman and the period epic Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, with ten mentions each, including Best Film and Best Director for renowned filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino.

From those films, veteran Irishman stars Al Pacino and Joe Pesci compete in the Supporting Actor field, along with Golden Globe winner Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood).

 

After its own recent successes at the Globes, the First World War thriller 1917 secured nine nominations, including Best Director for British auteur Sam Mendes, while the Best Film line-up is completed by the South Korean thriller Parasite with just four nods.

 

In a bizarre coincidence, there are double acting nominations for stars Scarlett Johansson AND Margot Robbie.

“Scarjo” is acknowledged in Leading Actress for her performance as unhappy wife Nicole Barber in Marriage Story, and in Supporting Actress for her turn as kindly mother Rosie Betzler in the war satire Jojo Rabbit.

Meanwhile, Robbie bizarrely earns double Supporting Actress nods for her respective roles as sexual harassment victim Kayla Pospisil in the factual drama Bombshell, and as Hollywood actress Sharon Tate in Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.

 

Elsewhere, recent Golden Globe winner Taron Egerton receives another Leading Actor mention for his portrayal of music legend Sir Elton John in the musical fantasy. His competition in that category includes Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood), Adam Driver (Marriage Story), and British veteran Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes).

 

In the Leading Actress field, Irish duo Saoirse Ronan and Jessie Buckley are recognised for their performances in Little Women and Wild Rose and face tough opposition from Charlize Theron (Bombshell) and early Oscar favourite Renée Zellweger (Judy).

 

In the supporting line-ups, British hopes will be on Sir Anthony Hopkins (The Two Popes) and Florence Pugh (Little Women) as they compete against the likes of Laura Dern (Marriage Story), and Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood).

 

However, this year’s acting nominees have been criticised by the media following the lack of diversity amongst the contenders. This came following notable snubs for the likes of Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory), Eddie Murphy (Dolemite is My Name), Cynthia Erivo (Harriet), Lupita Nyong’o (Us) and Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers).

 

Meanwhile, the aforementioned 1917 and Rocketman are shortlisted in the Outstanding British Film category alongside the factual drama The Two Popes, and indie dramas Bait and Sorry We Missed You.

The sixth contender in that line-up is the powerful documentary For Sama, which is also in contention for Best Documentary, Best Film Not in the English Language and Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.

 

In other notable fields, the Best Animated Film line-up features a strong quartet of films, with Disney hits Frozen 2 and Toy Story 4 up against Netflix’s Klaus and Aardman’s A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon.

 

Once again, Parasite is heavily tipped to win Best Film Not in the English Language, which includes The Farewell and Pain and Glory while Best Documentary is contested by the likes of American Factory, Apollo 11 and Diego Maradona.

 

Additionally, there is also the introduction of a new category in the form of Best Casting, which features the likes of Joker, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood and The Personal History of David Copperfield.

 

As previously announced, this year’s EE Rising Star Award will be contested by British duo Jack Lowden and Micheal Ward as well as American trio Awkwafina, Kaitlyn Dever and Kelvin Harrison Jr..

 

To the delight of many BAFTA fanatics, chat show host Graham Norton will present this year’s awards for the first time, with the ceremony taking place at the London’s Royal Albert Hall on Sunday 2 February.

The full list of BAFTA nominations are below (winner predictions in blue):

BEST FILM
THE IRISHMAN
JOKER
1917
ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD
PARASITE

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
BAIT
FOR SAMA
1917
ROCKETMAN
SORRY WE MISSED YOU
THE TWO POPES

BEST DIRECTOR
Bong Joon-ho, PARASITE
Sam Mendes, 1917
Todd Phillips, JOKER
Martin Scorsese, THE IRISHMAN
Quentin Tarantino, ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD

 

BEST LEADING ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley, WILD ROSE
Scarlett Johansson, MARRIAGE STORY
Saoirse Ronan, LITTLE WOMEN
Charlize Theron, BOMBSHELL
Renée Zellweger, JUDY

BEST LEADING ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio, ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD
Adam Driver, MARRIAGE STORY
Taron Egerton, ROCKETMAN
Joaquin Phoenix, JOKER
Jonathan Pryce, THE TWO POPES

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Laura Dern, MARRIAGE STORY
Scarlett Johansson, JOJO RABBIT
Florence Pugh, LITTLE WOMEN
Margot Robbie, BOMBSHELL
Margot Robbie, ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tom Hanks, A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Anthony Hopkins, THE TWO POPES
Al Pacino, THE IRISHMAN
Joe Pesci, THE IRISHMAN
Brad Pitt, ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD

 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE IRISHMAN (Steven Zallian)
JOJO RABBIT (Taika Waititi)
JOKER (Todd Phillips & Scott Silver)
LITTLE WOMEN (Greta Gerwig)
THE TWO POPES (Anthony McCarten)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BOOKSMART (Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins & Katie Silberman)
KNIVES OUT (Rian Johnson)
MARRIAGE STORY (Noah Baumbach)
ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD (Quentin Tarantino)
PARASITE (Bong Joon-ho & Han Jin-wan)

 

BEST CASTING
JOKER (Shayna Markowitz)
MARRIAGE STORY (Douglas Aibel & Francine Maisler)
ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD (Victoria Thomas)
THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD (Sarah Crowe)
THE TWO POPES (Nina Gold)

BEST EDITING
THE IRISHMAN
JOJO RABBIT
JOKER
LE MANS ’66
ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE IRISHMAN
JOKER
LE MANS ’66
THE LIGHTHOUSE
1917

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE IRISHMAN
JOJO RABBIT
JOKER
1917
ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD

 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
THE IRISHMAN
JOJO RABBIT
JUDY
LITTLE WOMEN
ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD

BEST MAKEUP & HAIR
BOMBSHELL
JOKER
JUDY
1917
ROCKETMAN

 

 

BEST SOUND
JOKER
LE MANS ’66
1917
ROCKETMAN
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

BEST SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
AVENGERS: ENDGAME
THE IRISHMAN
THE LION KING
1917
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER

BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC
JOJO RABBIT (Michael Giacchino)
JOKER (Hildur Guðnadóttir)
LITTLE WOMEN (Alexandre Desplat)
1917 (Thomas Newman)
STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER (John Williams)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
FROZEN 2
KLAUS
A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON
TOY STORY 4

BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
THE FAREWELL
FOR SAMA
PAIN AND GLORY
PARASITE
PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE

BEST DOCUMENTARY
AMERICAN FACTORY
APOLLO 11
DIEGO MARADONA
FOR SAMA
THE GREAT HACK

BEST BRITISH SHORT FILM
AZAAR
GOLDFISH
KAMALI
LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU’RE A GIRL)
THE TRAP

BEST BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
GRANDAD WAS A ROMANTIC
IN HER BOOTS
THE MAGIC BOAT

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
BAIT, Mark Jenkin (Writer/Director), Kate Byers & Linn Waite (Producers)
FOR SAMA, Waad al-Kateab (Director/Producer) & Edward Watts (Director)
MAIDEN, Alex Holmes (Director)
ONLY YOU, Harry Wootliff (Writer/Director)
RETABLO, Álvaro Delgado-Aparicio (Writer/Director) & Héctor Gálvez (Director)

EE RISING STAR AWARD
Awkwafina
Kaitlyn Dever
Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Jack Lowden
Michael Ward