Stars enter BAFTA Film Awards, ‘One Battle’ and ‘Sinners’ ahead in the race

Politically charged thriller “One Battle After Another” and gloomy epic “Sinners” are the frontrunners for Sunday’s British Academy Film Awards, as both films compete for awards-season supremacy.

Oddsmakers suggest that if British film industry voters respond to the emotionally rich story, earthy English setting and intense performances of Chloé Zhao’s adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s historical novel, Shakespeare’s family tragedy “Hamnet” could beat them to best picture.

“One Battle” has 14 nominations, including best picture and acting awards for its five actors. “Sinners” trails with 13 nominations, while “Hamnet” and ping-pong odyssey “Marty Supreme” each have 11 nominations.

Guillermo del Toro’s reimagining of “Frankenstein” and the Norwegian family drama “Sentimental Value” each received eight nominations.

The British awards, officially called the EE BAFTA Film Awards, often indicate who will win at Hollywood’s Academy Awards, held on March 15 this year. In the Oscar nominations, “Sinners” leads the race. Record 16 nominationsThis was followed by a “one on one fight” with the 13.

Stars including Emma Stone, Cillian Murphy, Glenn Close and Ethan Hawke are expected to hit the red carpet outside London’s Royal Festival Hall ahead of the black-tie ceremony hosted by Scottish actor Alan Cumming.

Cumming, who hosts the US version of the reality show “The Traitors”, pledged to strike a “balance between celebration and mischief”.

The BAFTA best picture nominees are “One Battle After Another,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” “Sinners” and “Sentimental Value.” The BAFTAs also have a distinctly British accent, with a separate category for Best British Film. Its 10 nominees include “The Ballad of Wallis Island,” “Pillion,” “I Swear” and “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.”

Among the directing contenders are Paul Thomas Anderson for “One Battle,” Josh Safdie for “Marty Supreme,” Ryan Coogler for “Sinners,” Yorgos Lanthimos for dystopian tragicomedy “Bugonia,” Joachim Trier for “Sentimental Value” and Zhao for “Hamnet.” If Zhao takes home the award, she will be the first female director to win two BAFTAs. He won the directing award for “Nomadland” in 2021.

Bookies’ favorites for best leading actor nominations include Timothée Chalamet for “Marty Supreme,” Leonardo DiCaprio for “One Battle After Another,” Ethan Hawke for the Broadway biopic “Blue Moon,” Michael B. Jordan, Jesse Plemons for “Bugonia” and Robert Aramayo to play a man with Tourette syndrome in the biographical drama “I Swear.”

The leading actress category includes heavy favorite Jessie Buckley for her role as William Shakespeare’s wife Agnes Hathaway in “Hamnet.” She is up against Rose Byrne for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”, Kate Hudson for “Song Sung Blue”, Chase Infinity for “One Battle After Another”, Renate Reinsway for “Sentimental Value” and Emma Stone for “Bugonia”.

“One Battle” actors Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn are all nominated for supporting performances.

The Associated Press was recognized in the Best Documentary category with a nomination for Mstislav Chernov’s harrowing Ukraine war portrait. “Andrevka from 2000 meters, and Frontline co-produced by PBS.

Most BAFTA winners are chosen by the 8,500 members of the UK Academy of Industry Professionals. Contenders for the Rising Star award — the only award decided by public vote and a reliable selector of future A-listers — are Infinity, Aramayo, “Sinners” star Miles Caton and British actors Archie Madekwe and Posy Sterling.

Donna Langley, the British-born president of NBCUniversal Entertainment, will be awarded a BAFTA Fellowship, the British Academy’s highest honor.

The ceremony will be broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC at 1900GMT and E! At 2000EST in the US.

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