An erratic awards season has already produced a series of twists and turns ahead of next week’s Oscar nominations. The BAFTA Film Awards have now contributed to the fun in their own bonkers way with their nominees for 2021.

After years of criticism over their lack of diverse contenders, the British film group have unveiled a highly diverse nominations list, with 16 of the 24 acting nominees coming from ethnic minority groups.

Joint-leaders of this year’s slate are the recent Golden Globe-winning drama Nomadland and more surprisingly, the indie British drama Rocks with seven nods each.

The former is in contention for the coveted Best Film prize alongside fellow Oscar contenders The Father, Promising Young Woman and The Trial of the Chicago 7 plus the factual drama The Mauritanian with director Chloé Zhao and leading star Frances McDormand both shortlisted in their respective categories.

As for Rocks, the 2019 release is shortlisted in a ten-film line-up for Outstanding British Film alongside the likes of The Father, The Mauritanian and Promising Young Woman. Filmmaker Sarah Gavron will go up against Zhao in a female-dominated Best Director category that also includes surprise nominees Shannon Murphy (Babyteeth) and Jasmila Žbanić (Quo Vadis, Aida?).

Furthermore, Rocks starlets Bukky Bakray and Kosar Ali are two out of a remarkable 21 actors to receive their first BAFTA nominations in the diverse acting categories.

Bakray (who is also in contention for the EE Rising Star Award) is placed in a bold Best Actress line-up that includes McDormand, Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman), Wunmi Mosaku (His House) and Radha Blank (The Forty-Year-Old Version).

Best Supporting Actress sees Ali go up against Oscar contenders Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) and Yuh-jung Youn (Minari) plus shock inclusions Niamh Algar (Calm With Horses) and Ashley Madekwe (County Lines).

Elsewhere, the late Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) is shortlisted in Best Actor alongside British veteran Anthony Hopkins (The Father) as well as the likes of Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round) and Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian).

The Supporting Actor category sees eight-year-old Alan Kim (Minari) looking to become the youngest winner in BAFTA history with his competition including Oscar candidates Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah) and Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night in Miami) and surprise inclusions Barry Keoghan (Calm With Horses) and Clark Peters (Da 5 Bloods).

All these wild acting nominations have resulted in a number of huge snubs ahead of next week’s Oscar announcement with major players Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman), Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Gary Oldman (Mank), Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy), Olivia Colman (The Father), Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian), Amanda Seyfried (Mank) and Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial of the Chicago 7) all left out.

Additionally, Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman), David Fincher (Mank), Regina King (One Night in Miami) and Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7) were amongst the high-profile directors to be overlooked this year.

As previously announced, the public-voted EE Rising Star Award will be contested between five British starlets in Bukky Bakray (Rocks), Kingsley Ben-Adir (Peaky Blinders, One Night in Miami), Morfydd Clark (The Personal History of David Copperfield, Saint Maud), Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù (His House, Gangs of London) and Conrad Khan (The Huntsman: Winter’s War, County Lines).

The winners will be announced at a ceremony without a live audience on 11 April.

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

BEST FILM
THE FATHER
THE MAURITANIAN
NOMADLAND
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
CALM WITH HORSES
THE DIG
THE FATHER
HIS HOUSE
LIMBO
THE MAURITANIAN
MOGUL MOWGLI
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
ROCKS
SAINT MAUD

BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung, MINARI
Sarah Gavron, ROCKS
Shannon Murphy, BABYTEETH
Thomas Vinterberg, ANOTHER ROUND
Jasmila Žbanić, QUO VADIS, AIDA?
Chloé Zhao, NOMADLAND

BEST 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

BEST 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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Daniel Kaluuya, JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Barry Keoghan, CALM WITH HORSES
Alan Kim, MINARI
Leslie Odom Jr., ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI
Clark Peters, DA 5 BLOODS
Paul Raci, SOUND OF METAL

BEST 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

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Ramin Bahrani, THE WHITE TIGER
Moira Buffini, THE DIG
Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani & Michael Bronner, THE MAURITANIAN
Christopher Hampton & Florian Zeller, THE FATHER
Chloé Zhao, NOMADLAND

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Emerald Fennell, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Jack Fincher, MANK
Theresa Ikoko & Claire Wilson, ROCKS
Tobias Lindholm & Thomas Vinterberg, ANOTHER ROUND
Aaron Sorkin, THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

BEST CASTING
CALM WITH HORSES
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
MINARI
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
ROCKS

BEST EDITING
THE FATHER
NOMADLAND
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
SOUND OF METAL
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
MANK
THE MAURITANIAN
NEWS OF THE WORLD
NOMADLAND

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE DIG
THE FATHER
MANK
NEWS OF THE WORLD
REBECCA

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
AMMONITE
THE DIG
EMMA
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
MANK

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
THE DIG
HILLBILLY ELEGY
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
MANK
PINOCCHIO

BEST SOUND
GREYHOUND
NEWS OF THE WORLD
NOMADLAND
SOUL
SOUND OF METAL

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
GREYHOUND
THE MIDNIGHT SKY
MULAN
THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN
TENET

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, SOUL
James Newton Howard, NEWS OF THE WORLD
Emile Mosseri, MINARI
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, MANK
Anthony Willis, PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

BEST ANIMATED FILM
ONWARD
SOUL
WOLFWALKERS

BEST FILM NOT IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE
ANOTHER ROUND (Denmark)
DEAR COMRADES! (Russia)
LES MISÉRABLES (France)
MINARI (USA)
QUO VADIS, AIDA? (Netherlands)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
COLLECTIVE
DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: A LIFE ON OUR PLANET
THE DISSIDENT
MY OCTOPUS TEACHER
THE SOCIAL DILEMMA

BEST BRITISH SHORT FILM
EYELASH
LIZARD
LUCKY BREAK
MISS CURVY
THE PRESENT

BEST BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
THE FIRE NEXT TIME
THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT
THE SONG OF A LOST BOY

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
HIS HOUSE
LIMBO
MOFFIE
ROCKS
SAINT MAUD

RISING STAR AWARD
Bukky Bakray
Kingsley Ben-Adir
Morfydd Clark
Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù
Conrad Khan