the gold rush

BAFTAs Nominate Highest Number of Female Directors in Their History

Photo: Joshua Richards/Twentieth Century Studios

It what has already been an eventful week for the Brits, the British Academy announced today the nominations for the 2021 BAFTAs, led by front-runner Nomadland and the British film Rocks. Most notably, four out of the six directors nominated are female, a record for the British Academy after an almost decade-long streak of all-male nominees. Three of the directing nominees are also up for Best Film Not in the English Language. This comes after 120 changes were made to its awards process this year, including adding 1,000 new members to its committee and limiting the amount that studios can spend campaigning for nominations after the Academy was criticized for another year of nominations without actors of color and with a slate of all-male directors.

This year, Nomadland and Rocks led the nominees with seven nods apiece, followed closely by Minari, Promising Young Woman, Mank, and The Father with six. And in perhaps the best news of the day: light of our life, 8-year-old Alan Kim, was nominated. The ceremony will take place on April 11, pushed back two months in response to the Oscars move. The full list of nominees is below:

Best Film
The Father
The Mauritanian
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Leading Actress
Bukky Bakray, Rocks
Radha Blank, The Forty-Year-Old Version
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Wunmi Mosaku, His House
Alfre Woodard, Clemency

Leading Actor
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Adarsh Gourav, The White Tiger
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Mads Mikkelsen, Another Round
Tahar Rahim, The Mauritanian

Supporting Actress
Niamh Algar, Calm With Horses
Kosar Ali, Rocks
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Dominique Fishback, Judas and the Black Messiah
Ashley Madekwe, County Lines
Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari

Supporting Actor
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Barry Keoghan, Calm With Horses
Alan Kim, Minari
Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami…
Clarke Peters, Da 5 Bloods
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal

Outstanding British Film
Calm With Horses
The Dig
The Father
His House
Limbo
The Mauritanian
Mogul Mowgli
Promising Young Woman
Rocks
Saint Maud

Outstanding Debut By a British Writer, Director or Producer
His House, Remi Weekes (Writer/Director)
Limbo, Ben Sharrock (Writer/Director), Irune Gurtubai (Producer)
Moffie, Jack Sidey (Writer/Producer)
Rocks, Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson (Writers)
Saint Maud, Rose Glass (Writer/Director), Oliver Kassman (Producer)

Film Not in the English Language
Another Round
Dear Comrades!
Les Misérables
Minari
Quo Vadis, Aida?

Documentary
Collective
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
The Dissident
My Octopus Teacher
The Social Dilemma

Animated Film
Onward
Soul
Wolfwalkers

Director
Another Round, Thomas Vinterberg
Babyteeth, Shannon Murphy
Minari, Lee Isaac Chung
Nomadland, Chloé Zhao
Quo Vadis, Aida?, Jasmila Žbanić
Rocks, Sarah Gavron

Original Screenplay
Another Round
Mank
Promising Young Woman
Rocks
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Adapted Screenplay
The Dig
The Father
The Mauritanian
Nomadland
The White Tiger

Original Score
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Promising Young Woman
Soul

Casting
Calm With Horses
Judas and the Black Messiah
Minari
Promising Young Woman
Rocks

Cinematography
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
The Mauritanian
News of the World
Nomadland

Editing
The Father
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Production Design
The Dig
The Father
Mank
News of the World
Rebecca

Costume Design
Ammonite
The Dig
Emma
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank

Make Up & Hair
The Dig
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Pinocchio

Sound
Greyhound
News of the World
Nomadland
Soul
Sound of Metal

Special Visual Effects
Greyhound
The Midnight Sky
Mulan
The One and Only Ivan
Tenet

British Short Animation
The Fire Next Time
The Owl and the Pussycat
The Song of a Lost Boy

BAFTAs Nom Highest Number of Female Directors in History