Normally, at this time of year we’d be swimming in a sea of awards contenders on the big screen – the most seemingly statue-worthy films crowding into cinemas in order to keep momentum right up until the prize-giving. But this is no ordinary awards season, and one of this year’s most-nominated films at the BAFTAs 2021 is one that entered our world away from all the awards hubbub – the brilliant, beautiful London-set coming-of-age drama Rocks, from Sarah Gavron, Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson. It snuck out into cinemas at the end of last summer, before quickly being added to Netflix UK once they closed again – and now, months later, the film has picked up seven nominations at the biggest British film awards.
As well as being up for Best British Film, Rocks is nominated for Best Original Screenplay, Outstanding Debut, and Best Director, with Bukky Bakray up for Best Leading Actress, and Kosar Ali up for Best Supporting Actress. Bakray is also among the five nominees for the EE Rising Star award.
Also receiving seven nominations is Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland – a critically-acclaimed drama starring Frances McDormand as a woman who loses everything in the 2008 financial crash, and subsequently takes up a nomadic lifestyle in the American expanse. Zhao’s latest is up for Best Film, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and more, with McDormand among the nominees for Best Leading Actress. Recently, it was confirmed that Nomadland will be heading to Star on Disney+ from 30 April, and will be followed by a release in cinemas once they reopen. That Zhao’s next film is Marvel’s upcoming Eternals only makes Nomadland even more fascinating.
Elsewhere, there were other big BAFTA contenders – including Emerald Fennell’s satirical thriller Promising Young Woman, David Fincher’s Hollywood tale Mank, the Anthony Hopkins-starring dementia drama The Father, and the Steven Yeun-starring Korean drama Minari, which all received six nominations each. Plus, historical archaeology tale The Dig and legal drama The Mauritanian each bagged five nominations.
There are, as ever, a few surprises on the list – some more welcome than others. Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’s scene-stealing Maria Bakalova received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and there’s a posthumous Best Actor nomination for Chadwick Boseman following his searing performance as Levee in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. While there was finally some love for Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods after its egregious Golden Globes snubs, it’s curious that the (always great) Clarke Peters nabbed a Supporting Actor nomination over his co-star Delroy Lindo, whose incredible performance as the MAGA-hat-wearing Paul was widely praised on release. Also absent from the acting nominees is Steven Yeun for Minari, though his diminutive co-star Alan Kim is among the Supporting Actor nominations. Great, too, to see some horror genre love for Remi Weekes’ astonishing refugee haunted house movie His House, up for Best British Film and British Debut, along with a Leading Actress nomination for Wunmi Mosaku.
Most notably, it’s a rich and diverse list this year, one that marks a notable shift from previous years dominated by white performers and male filmmakers – a broader selection that feels much more reflective of our filmmaking landscape in Britain and beyond, and of the astonishing year we’ve just seen in the movies, even at a time when cinemas have been forced to close. Tune in to the ceremony on 11 April to see which film bags all the biggest prizes – and check out the full list of nominees below.
The Full List Of Nominees
Best Film
The Father
The Mauritanian
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Outstanding British Film
Calm With Horses
The Dig
The Father
His House
Limbo
The Mauritanian
Mogul Mowgli
Promising Young Woman
Rocks
Saint Maud
Best 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
Best 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
Best 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
Best 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
Best Director
Another Round - Thomas Vinterberg
Babyteeth - Shannon Murphy
Minari - Lee Isaac Chung
Nomadland - Chloé Zhao
Quo Vadis, Aida? - Jasmila Žbanić
Rocks - Sarah Gavron
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?
Best Documentary
Collective
David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet
The Dissident
My Octopus Teacher
The Social Dilemma
Best Animated Film
Onward
Soul
Wolfwalkers
Best Original screenplay
Another Round - Tobias Lindholm, Thomas Vinterberg
Mank - Jack Fincher
Promising Young Woman - Emerald Fennell
Rocks - Theresa Ikoko
The Trial of the Chicago 7 - Aaron Sorkin
Adapted Screenplay
The Dig - Moira Buffini
The Father - Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller
The Mauritanian - Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani, MB Traven
Nomadland - Chloé Zhao
The White Tiger - Ramin Bahrani
Best Original Score
Mank - Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Minari - Emile Mosseri
News of the World - James Newton Howard
Promising Young Woman - Anthony Willis
Soul - Jon Batiste
Best Cinematography
Judas and the Black Messiah - Sean Bobbitt
Mank - Erik Messerschmidt
The Mauritanian - Alwin H Küchler
News of the World - Dariusz Wolski
Nomadland - Joshua James Richards
Best Costume Design
Ammonite - Michael O'Connor
The Dig - Alice Babidge
Emma - Alexandra Byrne
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - Ann Roth
Mank - Trish Summerville
Best Editing
The Father - Yorgos Lamprinos
Nomadland - Chloé Zhao
Promising Young Woman - Frédéric Thoraval
Sound of Metal - Mikkel EG Nielsen
The Trial of the Chicago 7 - Alan Baumgarten
Best Production Design
The Dig - Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald
The Father - Peter Francis, Cathy Featherstone
Mank - Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale
News of the World - David Crank, Elizabeth Keenan
Rebecca - Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
Best Make-up And Hair
The Dig - Jenny Shircore
Hillbilly Elegy - Patricia Dehaney, Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - Matiki Anoff, Larry M Cherry, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal
Mank - Kimberley Spiteri, Gigi Williams
Pinocchio - Mark Coulier
Best Sound
Greyhound - nominees TBC
News of the World - Michael Fentum, William Miller, Mike Prestwood Smith, John Pritchett, Oliver Tarney
Nomadland - Sergio Diaz, Zach Seivers, M Wolf Snyder
Soul - Coya Elliott, Ren Klyce, David Parker
Sound of Metal - Jamie Baksht, Nicolas Becker, Phillip Bladh, Carlos Cortes, Michelle Couttolenc
Best Special Visual Effects
Greyhound - Pete Bebb, Nathan McGuinness, Sebastian von Overheidt
The Midnight Sky - Matt Kasmir, Chris Lawrence, David Watkins
Mulan - Sean Faden, Steve Ingram, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury
The One and Only Ivan - Santiago Colomo Martinez, Nick Davis, Greg Fisher
Tenet - Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lockley
Best Casting
Calm With Horses - Shaheen Baig
Judas and the Black Messiah - Alexa L Fogel
Minari - Julia Kim
Promising Young Woman - Lindsay Graham Ahanonu, Mary Vernieu
Rocks - Lucy Pardee
Best British Short Film
Eyelash
Lizard
Lucky Break
Miss Curvy
The Present
Best British Short Animation
The Fire Next Time
The Owl and the Pussycat
The Song of A Lost Boy