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

Out in front is the dark comic-book drama Joker, with a dominant eleven nominations, including Best Film. The origin story of Batman’s biggest nemesis also landed key mentions in Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for filmmaker Todd Phillips.

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.

Joint-second on the nominations front are Martin Scorsese’s crime epic The Irishman and Quentin Tarantino’s lengthy dramedy Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood, with ten mentions each.

Both renowned filmmakers are acknowledged in Best Director, along with Sam Mendes whose Golden Globe-winning war thriller 1917 totalled nine nominations including Best Film.

The last feature to round off the main category is the dark Korean thriller Parasite, with just four nods.

 

On the acting front, there are double nominations for both Scarlett Johansson AND Margot Robbie.

Scarjo is acknowledged in Leading Actress AND Supporting Actress for her roles in Marriage Story and Jojo Rabbit, while Margot is nodded twice in the supporting category for her turns in Bombshell and Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood.

Elsewhere, Leading Actor sees recent Globe winner Taron Egerton acknowledged for his portrayal of legendary musician Elton John in the musical fantasy Rocketman. His competition in that category includes Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood), and British veteran Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes).

 

In the Leading Actress category, 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 recent Globe winner Renée  Zellweger (Judy).

In the Supporting Actor and Actress line-ups, British hopes will be on Sir Anthony Hopkins (The Two Popes) and Florence Pugh (Little Women) as they compete against formidable names like Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood), Laura Dern (Marriage Story), Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood) and The Irishman duo Al Pacino and Joe Pesci.

 

However, the 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).

Additionally, big films like Ad Astra, The Aeronauts, Aladdin, Blinded by the Light, Captain Marvel, Cats, Downton Abbey, Fighting with My Family, Honey Boy, Richard Jewell, Spider-Man: Far from Home and Yesterday were completely overlooked by the British Academy.

Meanwhile, the Outstanding British Film line-up sees the likes of 1917 and Rocketman go up against the powerful documentary For Sama and Ken Loach’s gritty drama Sorry We Missed You.

There is also the introduction of a new category in Best Casting, which features the likes of Joker and The Personal History of David Copperfield.

 

Best Animated Film features a strong line-up of four films with Disney hits Frozen 2 and Toy Story 4 up against Netflix’s Klaus and Aardman’s A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon while For Sama and Diego Maradona are in contention for Best Documentary.

The other high-profile films to receive technical nominations include Avengers: Endgame, Judy, Le Mans ’66, The Lion King, Little Women and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

As announced yesterday, the EE Rising Star Award is contested by British duo Jack Lowden and Micheal Ward and American trio Awkwafina, Kaitlyn Dever and Kelvin Harrison Jr..

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

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

BEST 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 & HAIRSTYLING
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 SCORE
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