‘Conclave’ leads BAFTA race with 12 noms

LONDON (AP):

The papal thriller Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal overseeing the election of a new pope, narrowly leads the race for the British Academy Film Awards with 12 nominations, one more than the genre-busting musical Emilia Pérez. But with the wildfires in Los Angeles over the past week fresh in the minds of everyone in the movie industry, Wednesday’s announcement of the latest BAFTA nominations was understandably restrained.

“Before we begin, on behalf of everyone at BAFTA, our thoughts are with colleagues, friends and peers, and all those affected by the devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area,” actor Will Sharpe said, before he and fellow actor Mia McKenna-Bruce announced the nominations.

BAFTA Chair Sara Putt wouldn’t be drawn on whether the fires may impact the BAFTA ceremony, which is due to take place on February 16 at the Royal Festival Hall in central London and hosted by Scottish actor David Tennant.

“The ceremony is a month away, it would be inappropriate and far too early to say anything about that,” Putt told The Associated Press.

The five films nominated for the prestigious Best Film award were Conclave, Emilia Pérez, the 215-minute postwar epic The Brutalist, the Palme d’Or-winning comedy-drama Anora, and the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown.

The Brutalist ended up with nine nominations, including leading actor for Adrien Brody, who faces stiff competition from Fiennes and Timothee Chalamet, who plays the young Dylan in A Complete Unknown.

The other actors nominated are Hugh Grant for his creepy role in the horror film Heretic, Colman Domingo in real-life prison drama Sing Sing, and Sebastian Stan for his portrayal of a real estate mogul — a certain Donald Trump — in The Apprentice.

Anora, the sci-fi epic Dune: Part Two, and Wicked each received seven nominations. A Complete Unknown received six nominations, as did Kneecap, the Irish-language hip-hop drama.

The prizes — officially called the EE BAFTA Film Awards — are Britain’s equivalent of Hollywood’s Academy Awards and will be watched closely for hints of who may win at the Oscars on March 3.

Sometimes a bandwagon develops during awards season, and Conclave, for one, will be hoping that its nominations bear fruit.

Edward Berger, the Germany-born director of Conclave, expressed his joy at the number of nominations the film received, including one for himself, “At its core, Conclave is about doubt, and that is how we set out on every film-making journey. The only way through is to be surrounded by a team of like-minded people who bond together to strive for the unattainable goal: perfection.”

Putt lauded the variety in the list of nominations, noting that six different genres were represented on the Best Film list.

“There’s some really exciting stories in there and just a real glorious range of film-making this year,” she said.

She also highlighted that 14 of the 24 nominations in the acting categories were first-timers, and that whoever takes the Best Actress award will be a first-time BAFTA winner.

Demi Moore is in with a chance, having been nominated for lead actress for her role in the body horror film The Substance.

Other notable female nominations for Best Supporting Actress were Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande for their roles in Emilia Pérez and the musical Wicked.