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Bafta shortlist sees An Education take on Avatar
English coming-of-age drama goes head to head with James Cameron’s blockbuster as well as The Hurt Locker
The British Academy Film Awards are shaping up to be a battle between homegrown British talent and the Hollywood big guns following the release this morning of nominations. The English coming-of-age drama An Education will do battle with James Cameron's 3D blockbuster Avatar and Kathryn Bigelow's gritty Iraq war thriller The Hurt Locker with eight nominations each, including best film and best director.
Threatening to spoil the Anglo-American party however, could be the South African sci-fi film District 9 which has seven nominations. Although it is not up for best film, first-time feature filmmaker Neill Blomkamp has a nod for both best director and best adapted screenplay.
The Baftas will see British actors Colin Firth, Andy Serkis and newcomer Carey Mulligan take on the Hollywood A-list. Mulligan, the star of An Education (above), is up for leading actress against Meryl Streep, who won a Golden Globe on Sunday for her performance as the cook Julia Child in Julie & Julia. The other actresses nominated are Gabourey Sidibe (Precious), Audrey Tatou (Coco Before Chanel) and teenager Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones).
In the leading actor category Colin Firth is nominated for his role in designer Tom Ford's directing debut A Single Man. He competes with Andy Serkis, lauded for his turn as Ian Dury in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, George Clooney for Up in the Air, Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart – the Golden Globe winner - as well as Jeremy Renner for his portrayal of a bomb disposal expert in The Hurt Locker.
The best supporting actress category sees two actresses from British film Nowhere Boy - Kristin Scott-Thomas and Anne-Marie Duff - face each other, as well as taking on Up in the Air's two female leads, Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga. They will compete with Golden Globe winner Mo'Nique from Precious.
The English actor Christian McKay, who received acclaim for his uncanny turn as Orson Welles in Me and Orson Welles, is up for best supporting actor, along with Alec Baldwin for It's Complicated, Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones and Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds.
This year's contenders for the best films in the 'not in the English language' category are exceptionally strong with two Cannes winners - Jacques Audiard's jury prize winner A Prophet and Michael Haneke's Palm d'Or winner The White Ribbon - going head to head. ·
