2022 BAFTA nominations: ‘Dune’ leads with 11, acting categories see major surprises and snubs

By the pricking of my thumbs, something BAFTA this way comes.

Chaos reigned at the BAFTA nominations once again as the second year of specialized juried voting in top categories gave us inspired mentions and some more than shocking snubs. Denis Villeneuve’s Dune led the pack with 11 (the only film to earn double digits), despite Villeneuve himself missing out on a directing nod. The Best Film nominees are Belfast, Don’t Look Up, Dune, Licorice Pizza and The Power of the Dog, The directing nominees were split 3/3 for male and female helmers with Aleem Khan (After Love), Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car) and Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza) on the men’s side and Audrey Diwan (Happening), Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog) and Julia Ducournau (Titane) representing the women nominated.

The Power of the Dog was next with 8 nominations, Belfast earned six and the trio of Licorice Pizza, No Time to Die and West Side Story grabbed five apiece.

In the acting categories, the top 2 vote getters in the first round are automatic nominees. Then, a jury of 7-12 people select the remaining four to give us our six nominations. Best Actress gave us the biggest snubs of the morning as the prevailing thought was that Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos) and Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter) were the most likely top 2 but voters said no, as both missed out on even a nomination today in favor of Lady Gaga (House of Gucci), Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza), Emilia Jones (CODA), Joanna Scanlan (After Love), Renate Reinsve (The Worst Person in the World) and Tessa Thompson (Passing). Reinsve was the only non-English language performance on the 60-name shortlist; her film also made the cut for Film Not in the English Language. For Lady Gaga, a previous BAFTA winner and nominee in this category for 2018’s A Star Is Born, she is now the only lead actress to have hit all four major precursors: Golden Globe, Critics Choice, Screen Actors Guild and now BAFTA.

Lead actor found room for Adeel Akhtar (Ali & Ava), a surprise nomination for Mahershala Ali (Swan Song), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog), Leonardo DiCaprio (Don’t Look Up), Stephen Graham (Boiling Point) and a first-ever nomination for Will Smith (King Richard). Notably, and historically, missing is Denzel Washington for The Tragedy of Macbeth. Washington, a two-time Oscar winner and the most-nominated Black actor in Academy history, has never been BAFTA-nominated and that streak continued this morning. Andrew Garfield, thought be a top two contender for tick, tick…BOOM!, was also missing from the lead actor list. Cumberbatch and Smith are the only lead actors to earn all four precursors this season.

Supporting actor nominees are Mike Faist (West Side Story), Ciarán Hinds (Belfast), Troy Kotsur (CODA), Woody Norman (C’mon C’mon) and the pair of Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee in The Power of the Dog. This is the first precursor mention for Plemons, Smit-McPhee completes the quartet of GG-CCA-SAG-BAFTA, as does Kotsur. Joining them in supporting actress are Caitríona Balfe (Belfast) and Ariana DeBose (West Side Story). Nominated alongside them are Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter) Ann Dowd (Mass), Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard) and Ruth Negga (Passing).

BAFTA expanded its membership in a major reassessment of its voting structure and membership over the last two years. Currently at around 7,000 members, and plan to increase their membership by 1,000 in 2023. This push came after a year of all-white acting nominees two years ago (including two by Margot Robbie in one category), similar the #OscarsSoWhite controversy the Academy Awards faced in 2015 and 2016. The Academy also made strides in that area, adding nearly 4,000 new members in the last five years and establishing diversity benchmarks in front of and behind the camera in order to secure a Best Picture nomination beginning at next year’s Oscars. Last year, even with the new voting system in place, which provided a much more diverse set of nominees, the BAFTA winners lined up with the Oscars in the top eight categories.

Nominations were revealed by presenter AJ Odudu and Tom Allen on Thursday at the new Princess Anne BAFTA building in London. The 2022 BAFTAs will be handed out at an in-person event on March 13 at Royal Albert Hall, with Rebel Wilson as the ceremony’s host.

Here is the complete list of nominations.

Best Film

Belfast
Don’t Look Up
Dune
Licorice Pizza
The Power of the Dog

Director

After Love – Aleem Khan
Drive My Car – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Happening – Audrey Diwan
Licorice Pizza – Paul Thomas Anderson
The Power of the Dog – Jane Campion
Titane – Julia Ducournau

Leading Actress

Lady Gaga – House of Gucci
Alana Haim – Licorice Pizza
Emilia Jones – CODA
Renate Reinsve – The Worst Person in the World
Joanna Scanlan – After Love
Tessa Thompson – Passing

Leading Actor

Adeel Akhtar – Ali & Ava
Mahershala Ali – Swan Song
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog
Leonardo DiCaprio – Don’t Look Up
Stephen Graham – Boiling Point
Will Smith – King Richard

Supporting Actress

Caitríona Balfe – Belfast
Jessie Buckley – The Lost Daughter
Ariana DeBose – West Side Story
Ann Dowd – Mass
Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard
Ruth Negga – Passing

Supporting Actor

Mike Faist – West Side Story
Ciarán Hinds – Belfast
Troy Kotsur – CODA
Woody Norman – C’mon C’mon
Jesse Plemons – The Power of the Dog
Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Power of the Dog

Original Screenplay

Being the Ricardos – Aaron Sorkin
Belfast – Kenneth Branagh
Don’t Look Up – Adam Mckay
King Richard – Zach Baylin
Licorice Pizza – Paul Thomas Anderson

Adapted Screenplay

CODA – Siân Heder
Drive My Car – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
Dune – Denis Villeneuve
The Lost Daughter – Maggie Gyllenhaal
The Power of the Dog – Jane Campion

Outstanding British Film

After Love
Ali & Ava
Belfast
Boiling Point
Cyrano
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
House of Gucci
Last Night in Soho
No Time to Die
Passing

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer

After Love – Aleem Khan (Writer/Director)
Boiling Point – James Cummings (Writer), Hester Ruoff (Producer) [also written by Philip Barantini and Produced by Bart Ruspoli]
The Harder They Fall – Jeymes Samuel (Writer/director) [also written by Boaz Yakin]
Keyboard Fantasies – Posy Dixon (Writer/Director), Liv Proctor (Producer)
Passing – Rebecca Hall (Writer/Director)

Film Not in the English Language

Drive My Car – Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Teruhisa Yamamoto
The Hand of God – Paolo Sorrentino, Lorenzo Mieli
Parallel Mothers – Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar
Petite Maman – Céline Sciamma, Bénédicte Couvreur
The Worst Person in the World – Joachim Trier, Thomas Robsahm

Documentary

Becoming Cousteau – Liz Garbus, Dan Cogan
Cow – Andrea Arnold, Kat Mansoor
Flee – Jonas Poher Rasmussen. Monica Hellström
The Rescue – Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, John Battsek, P. J. Van Sandwijk
Summer of Soul (or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” – Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel

Animated Film

Encanto – Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino, Clarke Spencer
Flee – Jonas Poher Rasmussen. Monica Hellström
Luca – Enrico Casarosa, Andrea Warren
The Mitchells Vs the Machines – Mike Rianda, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller

Original Score

Being the Ricardos – Daniel Pemberton
Don’t Look Up – Nicholas Britell
Dune – Hans Zimmer
The French Dispatch – Alexandre Desplat
The Power of the Dog – Jonny Greenwood

Casting

Boiling Point – Carolyn Mcleod
Dune – Francine Maisler
The Hand of God – Massimo Appolloni, Annamaria Sambucco
King Richard – Rich Delia, Avy Kaufman
West Side Story – Cindy Tolan

Cinematography

Dune – Greig Fraser
Nightmare Alley – Dan Laustsen
No Time to Die – Linus Sandgren
The Power of the Dog – Ari Wegner
The Tragedy of Macbeth – Bruno Delbonnel

Editing

Belfast – Úna Ní Dhonghaíle
Dune – Joe Walker
Licorice Pizza – Andy Jurgensen
No Time to Die – Tom Cross, Elliot Graham
Summer of Soul (or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” – Joshua L. Pearson

Production Design

Cyrano – Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
Dune – Patrice Vermette, Zsuzsanna Sipos
The French Dispatch – Adam Stockhausen, Rena Deangelo
Nightmare Alley – Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau
West Side Story – Adam Stockhausen, Rena Deangelo

Costume Design

Cruella – Jenny Beavan
Cyrano – Massimo Cantini Parrini
Dune – Robert Morgan, Jacqueline West
The French Dispatch – Milena Canonero
Nightmare Alley – Luis Sequeira

Make Up & Hair

Cruella – Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne
Cyrano – Alessandro Bertolazzi, Siân Miller
Dune – Love Larson, Donald Mowat
The Eyes of Tammy Faye – Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram, Justin Raleigh
House of Gucci – Frederic Aspiras, Jane Carboni, Giuliano Mariana, Sarah Nicole Tanno

Sound

Dune – Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Doug Hemphill, Theo Green, Ron Bartlett
Last Night in Soho – Colin Nicolson, Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin, Dan Morgan
No Time to Die – James Harrison, Simon Hayes, Paul Massey, Oliver Tarney, Mark Taylor
A Quiet Place Part II – Erik Aadahl, Michael Barosky, Brandon Proctor, Ethan Van Der Ryn
West Side Story – Brian Chumney, Tod Maitland, Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom

Special Visual Effects

Dune – Brian Connor, Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Gerd Nefzer
Free Guy – Swen Gillberg, Brian Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis, Daniel Sudick
Ghostbusters: Afterlife – Aharon Bourland, Sheena Duggal, Pier Lefebvre, Alessandro Ongaro
The Matrix Resurrections – Tom Debenham, Hew J Evans, Dan Glass, J. D. Schwaim
No Time to Die – Mark Bokowski, Chris Corbould, Joel Green, Charlie Noble

British Short Animation

Affairs of the Art – Joanna Quinn, Les Mills
Do Not Feed the Pigeons – Jordi Morera
Night of the Living Dread – Ida Melum, Danielle Goff, Laura Jayne Tunbridge, Hannah Kelso

British Short Film

The Black Cop – Cherish Oteka
Femme – Sam H. Freeman, Ng Choon Ping, Sam Ritzenberg, Hayley Williams
The Palace – Jo Prichard
Stuffed – Theo Rhys, Joss Holden-rea
Three Meetings of the Extraordinary Committee – Michael Woodward, Max Barron, Daniel Wheldon

EE Rising Star Award (Voted for by the Public)

Ariana DeBose
Harris Dickinson
Lashana Lynch
Millicent Simmonds
Kodi Smit-McPhee