With the Oscar nominations just around the corner, BAFTA have unveiled their full list of contenders for 2018.

The romantic fantasy The Shape of Water leads the way with an impressive twelve nods, including a place on the prestigious Best Film shortlist.

The film, which centres on a love story between a mute cleaner and an Amphibian man, also secured acting nods for female stars Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer, while Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro earns double mentions for his writing and directing.

After its dominant success at the Golden Globes yesterday, the comedic drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is up for nine awards, including Best Film and writing and directing nods for British playwright Martin McDonagh.

Additionally, central star Frances McDormand contests the Leading Actress category, while male co-stars Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell are both up for Supporting Actor.

The war drama Darkest Hour, which explores prime minister Winston Churchill’s dilemma over taking on Nazi Germany in World War II, also picked up a solid nine mentions, including Best Film.

British performer Gary Oldman will look to bolster his Oscar frontrunner status after earning a Leading Actor nod for his portrayal of Churchill, while Kristin Scott Thomas is acknowledged in the Best Supporting Actress category for her turn as Churchill’s wife Clementine.

The rest of the Best Film shortlist is completed by another World War II flick in Dunkirk, with eight nominations, and the romantic drama Call Me by Your Name, with four noms.

From those two contenders, auteurs Christopher Nolan and Luca Guadagnino are both up for Best Director along with Denis Villeneuve, who scored a surprise nod for his work on the lauded sci-fi sequel Blade Runner 2049.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Darkest Hour are among six features in contention for the Outstanding British Film prize and are joined by the political satire The Death of Stalin and indie dramas God’s Own Country and Lady Macbeth.

The sixth film to make the cut is the critically-acclaimed family adventure sequel Paddington 2 which also landed a well-deserved Supporting Actor nomination for Hugh Grant for his delightful turn as cunning actor Phoenix Buchanan.

In the acting fields, Annette Bening and Jamie Bell are surprisingly acknowledged for their leading roles in the fact-based romantic drama Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool.

Bening competes in a stellar Leading Actress line-up that includes Irish starlet Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) and Australian beauty Margot Robbie (I, Tonya), while Bell is up against Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name), Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out) and the retiring Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread) in the Leading Actor field.

Coincidentally, Chalamet and Kaluuya are also in contention for the EE Rising Star Award, alongside new Marvel star Tessa Thompson and British newcomers Florence Pugh and Josh O’Connor.

Meanwhile, veteran performer Christopher Plummer earns another Supporting Actor nod for his last-minute portrayal of billionaire J. Paul Getty in All the Money in the World, a role that was originally played by the recently-disgraced Kevin Spacey.

Plummer is joined in the Supporting Actor category by Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project) while recent Golden Globe victor Allison Janney (I, Tonya) is looking to score another Supporting Actress win with Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) and Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird) among her rival nominees.

Elsewhere, Pixar’s Coco competes for the Best Animated Film prize alongside Loving Vincent and My Life as a Courgette, while Angelina Jolie’s Cambodian drama First They Killed My Father locks horns with the likes of Elle and The Handmaiden in the Best Film Not in the English Language line-up.

In the technical categories, Blade Runner 2049 performed well with multiple nods with blockbusters Baby Driver, Beauty and the Beast, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and War for the Planet of the Apes also up for awards.

However, it was a disastrous day for Steven Spielberg’s The Post, as the factual drama was completely shut out by the British Academy, while major Oscar contenders Get Out and Lady Bird could only manage an underwhelming five nominations between them.

In ‘fabulous’ news, renowned British actress and presenter Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous) is set to host this year’s BAFTA ceremony, following Stephen Fry’s decision to stand down after a number of years as compère.

In the meantime, the 71st EE BAFTA Film Awards will take place at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Sunday 18 February.

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

BEST FILM
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
DARKEST HOUR
DUNKIRK
THE SHAPE OF WATER
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
DARKEST HOUR
THE DEATH OF STALIN
GOD’S OWN COUNTRY
LADY MACBETH
PADDINGTON 2
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

BEST DIRECTOR
Luca Guadagnino, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
Martin McDonagh, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Christopher Nolan, DUNKIRK
Guillermo del Toro, THE SHAPE OF WATER
Denis Villeneuve, BLADE RUNNER 2049

BEST LEADING ACTRESS
Annette Bening, FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL
Sally Hawkins, THE SHAPE OF WATER
Frances McDormand, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Margot Robbie, I, TONYA
Saoirse Ronan, LADY BIRD

BEST LEADING ACTOR
Jamie Bell, FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL
Timothée Chalamet, CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
Daniel Day-Lewis, PHANTOM THREAD
Daniel Kaluuya, GET OUT
Gary Oldman, DARKEST HOUR

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Allison Janney, I, TONYA
Lesley Manville, PHANTOM THREAD
Laurie Metcalf, LADY BIRD
Octavia Spencer, THE SHAPE OF WATER
Kristin Scott Thomas, DARKEST HOUR

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Willem Dafoe, THE FLORIDA PROJECT
Hugh Grant, PADDINGTON 2
Woody Harrelson, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Christopher Plummer, ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD
Sam Rockwell, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (James Ivory)
THE DEATH OF STALIN (Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin & David Schneider)
FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL (Matt Greenhalgh)
MOLLY’S GAME (Aaron Sorkin)
PADDINGTON 2 (Simon Farnaby & Paul King)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
GET OUT (Jordan Peele)
I, TONYA (Steven Rogers)
LADY BIRD (Greta Gerwig)
THE SHAPE OF WATER (Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor)
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (Martin McDonagh)

BEST EDITING
BABY DRIVER
BLADE RUNNER 2049
DUNKIRK
THE SHAPE OF WATER
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BLADE RUNNER 2049
DARKEST HOUR
DUNKIRK
THE SHAPE OF WATER
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
BLADE RUNNER 2049
DARKEST HOUR
DUNKIRK
THE SHAPE OF WATER

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
DARKEST HOUR
I, TONYA
PHANTOM THREAD
THE SHAPE OF WATER

BEST MAKEUP & HAIR
BLADE RUNNER 2049
DARKEST HOUR
I, TONYA
VICTORIA & ABDUL
WONDER

BEST SOUND
BABY DRIVER
BLADE RUNNER 2049
DUNKIRK
THE SHAPE OF WATER
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

BEST SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
BLADE RUNNER 2049
DUNKIRK
THE SHAPE OF WATER
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES

BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC
BLADE RUNNER 2049 (Benjamin Wallfisch & Hans Zimmer)
DUNKIRK (Hans Zimmer)
PHANTOM THREAD (Jonny Greenwood)
THE SHAPE OF WATER (Alexandre Desplat)
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI (Carter Burwell)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
COCO
LOVING VINCENT
MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE

BEST FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
ELLE
FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER
THE HANDMAIDEN
LOVELESS
THE SALESMAN

BEST DOCUMENTARY
CITY OF GHOSTS
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO
ICARUS
AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL
JANE

BEST BRITISH SHORT FILM
AAMIR
COWBOY DAVE
A DROWNING MAN
WORK
WREN BOYS

BEST BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
HAVE HEART
MAMOON
POLES APART

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
THE GHOUL, Gareth Tunley (Writer/Director/Producer), Jack Healy Guttman & Tom Meeten (Producers)
I AM NOT A WITCH, Rungano Nyoni (Writer/Director) & Emily Morgan (Producer)
JAWBONE, Johnny Harris (Writer/Producer) & Thomas Napper (Director)
KINGDOM OF US, Lucy Cohen (Director)
LADY MACBETH, Alice Birch (Writer), William Oldroyd (Director) & Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (Producer)

EE RISING STAR AWARD
Timothée Chalamet
Daniel Kaluuya
Josh O’Connor
Florence Pugh
Tessa Thompson