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BAFTA award Getty.jpg

I Expect Nothing From The 2019 BAFTA Nominations And I'm Still Disappointed

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | January 9, 2019 |

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | January 9, 2019 |


BAFTA award Getty.jpg

The 2019 BAFTA Award nominations were announced this morning and, bar a few nice surprises, it was another sea of meh. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts used to give out its awards after the Oscars, allowing for a more obvious focus on British film. Now, they do it before the Oscars, meaning they’re part of ‘The Narrative’. And boy do BAFTA really want to be part of that narrative, as false and sh-tty as it is. This year’s nominations are practically begging to be Oscar-adjacent, with way too much love for Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book because hey, those are Oscar movies, right? Meanwhile, women directors were nominated… *checks notes*… zero times. Again. If nothing else, this awards season has reminded me of how thoroughly uninterested the film industry is in recognizing, nurturing and rewarding female talent. You can direct some of the most critically acclaimed movies of the year but it’ll never be good enough because the Dumb & Dumber guy has feelings on race.

I’ll try to take comfort in the few surprises we got here. Viola Davis for Widows is so well deserved and I’m still mad that film is being overlooked this season. Paweł Pawlikowski being nominated for Best Director is a nice shake-up and it’s always good to see non-English language films get recognition outside of that one category. McQueen, one of my favourite documentaries of 2018, got some love, as did You Were Neber Really Here for Outstanding British Film, but you know, nothing for Lynne Ramsay because women directors don’t exist in the 2018 conversation apparently. Sure, your film was good but was it ineptly shot Queen karaoke session directed by an accused rapist good?

I’m almost impressed by how this awards season has taken such a vibrant, interesting and ground-breaking year in film, one where women directors consistently knocked it out of the park and black film-makers dominated the conversation, and boiled it down to absolute ‘meh’.

Here are the BAFTA nominations:

Best Film
BlackkKlansman
The Favourite
Green Book
Roma
A Star Is Born

Outstanding British Film
Beast
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
McQueen
Stan & Ollie
You Were Never Really Here

Leading Actor
Bradley Cooper - A Star Is Born
Christian Bale - Vice
Rami Malek - Bohemian Rhapsody
Steve Coogan - Stan & Ollie
Viggo Mortensen - Green Book

Leading Actress
Glenn Close - The Wife
Lady Gaga - A Star Is Born
Melissa McCarthy - Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Olivia Colman - The Favourite
Viola Davis - Widows

Supporting Actor
Adam Driver - BlackkKlansman
Mahershala Ali - Green Book
Richard E Grant - Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Sam Rockwell - Vice
Timothee Chalamet - Beautiful Boy

Supporting Actress
Amy Adams - Vice
Claire Foy - First Man
Emma Stone - The Favourite
Margot Robbie - Mary Queen of Scots
Rachel Weisz - The Favourite

Director
Spike Lee - BlacKkKlansman
Paweł Pawlikowski - Cold War
Yorgos Lanthimos - The Favourite
Alfonso Cuaron - Roma
Bradley Cooper - A Star Is Born

Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer
Apostasy - Daniel Kokotajlo (writer/director)
Beast - Michael Pearce (writer/director), Lauren Dark (producer)
A Cambodian Spring - Chris Kelly (writer/director/producer)
Pili - Leanne Welham (writer/director), Sophie Harman (producer)
Ray & Liz - Richard Billingham (writer/director), Jacqui Davies (producer)

Film not in the English language
Capernaum
Cold War
Dogman
Roma
Shoplifters

Documentary
Free Solo
McQueen
RBG
They Shall Not Grow Old
Three Identical Strangers

Animated film
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse

Original Screenplay
Cold War
The Favourite
Green Book
Roma
Vice

Adapted Screenplay
BlacKkKlansman
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
First Man
If Beale Street Could Talk
A Star Is Born

Original Music
BlackkKlansman
If Beale Street Could Talk
Isle of Dogs
Mary Poppins Returns
A Star Is Born

Cinematography
Bohemian Rhapsody
Cold War
The Favourite
First Man
Roma

Costume Design
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Mary Poppins Returns
Mary Queen of Scots

Editing
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
First Man
Roma
Vice

Production Design
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
The Favourite
First Man
Mary Poppins Returns
Roma

Make-Up & Hair
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Mary Queen of Scots
Stan & Ollie
Vice

Sound
Bohemian Rhapsody
First Man
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
A Quiet Place
A Star Is Born

Visual Effects
Avengers: Infinity War
Black Panther
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
First Man
Ready Player One

British short film
73 Cows
Bachelor
The Blue Door
The Field
Wale

British short animation
I’m OK
Marfa
Roughhouse



Header Image Source: Getty Images.