With less than a week to go until the Oscar nominations are announced, the British have once again chipped in with their choices for the 2015 EE BAFTA Film Awards.

Wes Anderson’s quirky caper The Grand Budapest Hotel leads the way with a dominant eleven nominations, including Best Film and a Best Director mention for Anderson. Central star Ralph Fiennes is also recognised in the Leading Actor category, while the film also received multiple nods in the technical categories.

The Broadway-based satire Birdman and the biopic drama The Theory of Everything share joint second with ten mentions each, and are joined in the Best Film category by the indie drama Boyhood and the factual drama The Imitation Game.

 

Once again, Birdman scored another Leading Actor nod for Oscar favourite Michael Keaton, while co-stars Edward Norton and Emma Stone are up for the supporting awards.

Keaton faces stern competition in his category from homegrown actors Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game) and Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) who find themselves in contention for their portrayals of real-life figures Alan Turing and Stephen Hawking.

From those films, filmmakers Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman), Richard Linklater (Boyhood) and James Marsh (The Theory of Everything) are shortlisted for Best Director, though Morten Tyldum is surprisingly ignored for his work on The Imitation Game.

However, The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything are also included in the Outstanding British Film category which is rounded off by the war thriller ’71, the fact-based comedy drama Pride, the sci-fi drama Under the Skin and in a welcoming surprise, the family adventure Paddington.

To the disappointment of some, Mike Leigh’s factual drama Mr. Turner failed to make the list, while Timothy Spall was also snubbed despite winning the Best Actor award at Cannes last year.

Elsewhere, British stars Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) and Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) go head-to-head in the Leading Actress line-up along with Amy Adams (Big Eyes), Reese Witherspoon (Wild) and Oscar frontrunner Julianne Moore (Still Alice).

 

In the supporting fields, J. K. Simmons lands another Supporting Actor nod for his performance in Whiplash, with Foxcatcher duo Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo among his rival nominees.

Meanwhile, the Supporting Actress line-up sees Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game) square off against Oscar favourite Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) and shock contenders Rene Russo (Nightcrawler) and Imelda Staunton (Pride).

 

 

Elsewhere, the Lego Movie competes against Big Hero 6 and The Boxtrolls in the Best Animated Film category while Ida, Leviathan and Two Days, One Night are among the foreign films in contention for Best Film Not in the English Language.

 

As previously announced, the EE Rising Star award sees British duo Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Jack O’Connell shortlisted alongside Margot Robbie, Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley.

Once again, BAFTA made some notable omissions with the factual drama Selma controversially ignored in all categories. Additionally, the high-profile acting snubs included Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year), Robert Duvall (The Judge), David Oyelowo (Selma) and Meryl Streep (Into the Woods).

The 68th BAFTA Film Awards will take place on London’s Royal Opera House on Sunday 8 February, with Sir Stephen Fry hosting for the tenth time.

 

BEST LEADING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, BIG EYES
Felicity Jones, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
Julianne Moore, STILL ALICE
Rosamund Pike, GONE GIRL
Reese Witherspoon, WILD

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, BOYHOOD
Keira Knightley, THE IMITATION GAME
Rene Russo, NIGHTCRAWLER
Imelda Staunton, PRIDE
Emma Stone, BIRDMAN

 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
AMERICAN SNIPER (Jason Hall)
GONE GIRL (Gillian Flynn)
THE IMITATION GAME (Graham Moore)
PADDINGTON (Paul King)
The Theory Of Everything (Anthony McCarten)

 

BEST EDITING
BIRDMAN
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
THE IMITATION GAME
NIGHTCRAWLER
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
WHIPLASH

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BIRDMAN
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
IDA
INTERSTELLAR
MR. TURNER