After receiving heavy criticism last year for its all-white slate of acting nominees, the British Academy Film Awards have made some big changes—and they’re evident in the list of 2021 nods.
Overall, 50 films are in contention; that’s a big step up from 39 last year, and it includes the kind of movies you might not see advertised on buses—such as Sarah Gavron’s “Rocks,” a story of friendship among London teenagers starring a cast of mainly untrained actors; and “Sound of Metal,” starring Riz Ahmed as a heavy metal drummer who begins to lose his hearing.
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In the acting categories, Ahmed is joined by many new faces. Twenty-one of the 24 actors nominated have never been recognised by BAFTA before, and 16 of them are non-white, including Daniel Kaluuya and Dominique Fishback for “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Tahar Rahim for “The Mauritanian,” and Bukky Bakray for “Rocks.”
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The leading actor race looks like it will be quite the battle, with late actor Chadwick Boseman leading the pack for his final performance in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” He’s joined by Ahmed, Rahim, Anthony Hopkins for Alzheimer’s disease drama “The Father,” and Mads Mikkelsen for “Another Round.”
Best Actress
Best actress is another interesting category. As widely predicted, two-time Oscar winner and one-time BAFTA winner Frances McDormand is nominated for “Nomadland.” She’ll have tough competition from Alfre Woodard for “Clemency”; Vanessa Kirby for “Pieces of a Woman”; Wunmi Mosaku for “His House”; Radha Blank for “The Forty-Year-Old Version”; and, perhaps most interestingly, Bakray, the 18-year-old star of “Rocks,” who had never acted previously.
Best Director
In the directing category, four women are nominated, including Gavron for “Rocks”; Shannon Murphy for “Babyteeth”; Jasmila Žbanić for “Quo Vadis, Aida?”; and Chloé Zhao for “Nomadland,” who recently won Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Awards. Zhao’s nomination underlines her drama’s award season potential, with McDormand also earning her fifth BAFTA acting nomination.
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As for the biggest prize of the night, the contenders include “Nomadland,” “The Father,” political thriller “The Mauritanian,” Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman,” and Aaron Sorkin’s period courtroom drama “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” The BAFTAs are held a fortnight before the Academy Awards, and they usually give a reliable indication as to which way the awards winds are blowing.
This year’s BAFTA Film Awards will be held virtually at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday 11 April without an audience. For a full list of the BAFTA nominations click here.
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