2009 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards Winners

Winners are in Red.

For the first time ever this year I have been following very close the awards season and probably will be the only time that I do it, as movies tend to be the same in all the major awards.

But if you ask me besides the Oscars, that some of you remember I call the “Mother of all Awards”, the other award show that I really care -for English language movies- is the BAFTAs and I have been waiting for their nominations and finally today they published the list and the nominees are:

Best Film
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
*Slumdog Millionaire

Outstanding British Film
Hunger
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
*Man On Wire
Slumdog Millionaire

Film not in the English Language
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Gomorrah
*I’ve Loved You So Long
Persepolis
Waltz With Bashir

Animated Film
Persepolis
*WALL-E
Waltz With Bashir

Director
Clint Eastwood for Changeling
David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon
Stephen Daldry for The Reader
*Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Leading Actress
Angelina Jolie in Changeling
Kristin Scott Thomas in I’ve Loved You So Long
Meryl Streep in Doubt
*Kate Winslet in The Reader
Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road

Supporting Actress
Amy Adams in Doubt
*Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Frieda Pinto in Slumdog Millionaire
Tilda Swinton in Burn After Reading
Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler

Leading Actor
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionaire
Sean Penn in Milk
Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
*Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

Supporting Actor
Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder
Brendan Gleeson in In Bruges
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt
*Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
Brad Pitt in Burn After Reading

The Carl Foreman Award
for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer for their First Feature Film
Simon Chinn producer of Man On Wire
Judy Craymer producer of Mamma Mia!
Garth Jennings writer of Son of Rambow
Steve McQueen director/writer of Hunger
Solon Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter producers of Of Time And The City

To read the award winners in other categories go here or check the official press release here. If you want to see the nominations check the video here.

As we can notice all the movies are the same as in the American awards, so there are no surprises across the ocean. But one nomination really puzzles me, Tilda Swinton for Burn After Reading; but I imagine that with all the well-deserved nominations for Best Actress there was no room for Tilda and her fantastic role in Julia, so they decided to include her in the Supporting Actress!

Another category that looks really interesting is the Animated Film as I imagine that the race has to be between Persepolis and Waltz With Bashir, and if I had to vote I’ll have a hard time deciding but think I’ll give my vote to Waltz With Bashir for Animated Film and Persepolis in Film not in the English Language!!!

I’m so glad that Hunger is nominated as Outstanding British Film and I hope wins as is a truly remarkable movie; I believe that there are possibilities as UK audiences and Academy members are more used to watch Bollywood and Hindi stories movies, and have to know that Slumdog Millionaire is a good crowd pleaser movie but that’s all. NEW: Seems I'm wrong... check this incendiary article at the The Guardian (!!!) and be sure to read the comments section.

I know I haven’t watch Mamma Mia! and perhaps now I find the courage to watch… see, I turned down invitations to Broadway and London shows as I could not imagine me sitting down for almost two hours and listening to ABBA songs one after the other! But perhaps I’ll rent the DVD and watch it one song at a time… (lol!)

For those interested in figures, the most nominated films are Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button each with 11 nominations; but most interesting is that the third most nominated movie is The Dark Knight!

Somehow I get the impression that Oscars nominations for major categories could look like the ones above. Anyway winners will be announced Sunday February 8th and some BBC channels will broadcast live the show, but I really hope that BBC America or BBC International will broadcast the show too. I’ll be checking and will let you all know.