The Queen rules Bafta Nominations

by Annika Pham

15/01/2007 - With 10 nominations, Stephen Frears’ The Queen [trailer, film focus] is set to rule this year’s Orange Bafta film awards, which for its 60th anniversary celebration will be held at London’s Royal Opera House in Covent Garden on February 11.

Frears’ critical and commercial success The Queen (Pathe/£7.7m) will run in all top categories, including Best Film, Best British Film of the Year, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay (Peter Morgan) and Best Actress (Helen Mirren).

The second most nominated film is Casino Royale [trailer], a record box office hit in the UK (over £51m for Sony), nominated in nine categories (including Best Actor for Daniel Craig) besides French actress Eva Green’s selection for the new Orange Rising Star Award.

The third most nominated film is Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth [trailer] (eight), followed by Babel (7), and The Departed, Little Miss Sunshine and Paul Greengrass’ United 93 [trailer], the latter three with six nominations each.

With five nominations for Kevin Macdonald’s The Last King of Scotland [trailer] (including Best Film and Best British Film) and two for Roger Michell’s Venus [trailer] (including Best Actor for Peter O’Toole) – two films backed by Film4 – Tessa Ross, head of Channel 4’s film arm, said: “This is a vital moment for Film4. The nominations prove that Film4 has been very busy backing extraordinary talent and continues to grow in strength and in its commitment to truly independent filmmaking”.

Other interesting Bafta battles will be in the best actress category, as Mirren is running against another Dame, Judi Dench (Notes On a Scandal), as well as Penelope Cruz (Volver [trailer, film focus]), Kate Winslet (Little Children ) and Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada).

The five contenders for Best Film not in the English language are Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto, Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book [trailer], Pan’s Labyrinth, Pedro Almodovar’s Volver [trailer, film focus] and Indian film Rang de Basanti.