Screen’s panel of anonymous awards voters discuss what pleased and surprised them about this year’s Bafta and Oscar nominations.
Bafta-nominated writer/director 1, female, Bafta & Ampas voter
What pleased, surprised or disappointed you about the Bafta nominations?
I am pleased to see some British films here that have not made the Oscars: I Swear,The Ballad Of Wallis Island, Pillon and Steve. Glad to see Chase Infiniti on the leading actress list for One Battle After Another, and Robert Aramayo from I Swear on leading actor – what a performance that was. The supporting actress nominations are exciting – my favourites are Teyana Taylor from One Battle, Wunmi Mosaku for Sinners and Odessa A’zion for Marty Supreme.
I was sorry not to see Sound Of Falling nominated for film not in the English language. I am glad My Father’s Shadow got a nod in outstanding British debut, but I think Urchin should have also been nominated.
What do you make of the Oscar nominations by comparison?
I prefer the Bafta nominations overall – they show more range. The Oscars are, as ever, dominated by a few films with the smaller ones pushed out, although I was glad that It Was Just An Accident was nominated for original screenplay – it was a stunning story.
Producer 1, female, Bafta voter
What pleased or surprised you about the Bafta nominations?
I am glad I Swear got the nominations I hoped it would, though I’d have had it in best film too. It’s one of the standouts of the year for me. I was surprised that Bugonia got its five nominations – Emma Stone is reliably good but I didn’t like the film and didn’t feel it was popular enough to do this well. The outstanding British debut category is strong with excellent nominations. I’m just sad to see only Pillion in that category making it into the outstanding British film list.
What do you make of the Oscar nominations by comparison?
It was a sad year for female filmmakers, when so many great movies were written and/or directed by women, but so few were acknowledged. The Baftas were ahead of the Oscars on this by virtue of Philippa Lowthorpe and Lynne Ramsay’s films making it into the outstanding British category, alongside Chloé Zhao. And the Oscars having more nominations in the best picture category didn’t help them one bit, although it’s great to see the excellent indie Train Dreams in there, which the Baftas ignored aside from cinematography.
Acquisitions & commissioning executive, male, Bafta voter
What pleased or surprised you about the Bafta nominations?
I was delighted to see I Swear and The Ballad Of Wallis Island nominated, especially for Robert Aramayo who is incredible inI Swear, and for the amazing Wallis Island script by Tim Key and Tom Basden. The outstanding British film category has a great range of genres, which is important for British cinema, and there are lots of exciting names in outstanding British debut.
Children’s and family film doesn’t seem to be working at all. Bafta want to support filmmakers for family and children’s films but it’s another baffling selection. We have an animation category and with the other selections, I don’t know who they are supporting or what audience the jury think they are trying to bring.
What do you make of the Oscar nominations by comparison?
I don’t think there is a lot of difference with the Oscars aside from certain British films not being nominated. The lack of difference is not surprising considering the crossover in membership, global campaigning and quality of the films this year. It’s great to see so many films nominated that have reached a broad audience. And they nominated ‘Golden’ from KPop Demon Hunters for best song, which is brilliant.
Producer 2, male, Bafta voter
What did you make of the Bafta nominations?
The continued dominance of a few big films scooping nominations in every category shows that something is still amiss. Hats off to the awards teams pushing these titles but some great films have been largely shut out of the main categories, especially British films like H Is For Hawk, The Ballad Of Wallis Island or the more interesting and experimental films such as The Chronology Of Water or Hedda.
What do you make of the Oscar nominations by comparison?
Brutally, I think the Oscars got it right on Hamnet’s acting categories.
Bafta-nominated writer/director 2, female, Bafta & Ampas voter
What pleased or surprised you about the Bafta nominations?
I was moved by The Voice Of Hind Rajab, and its inclusion in film not in the English language felt important rather than tokenistic. That category feels stronger and more urgent than some of the main awards. But I was disheartened by how male and familiar parts of the best film category still feel. There are glimpses of risk elsewhere, particularly in debut and international categories, but the top tier remains conservative. I was disappointed by how much space One Battle After Another took up.
What do you make of the Oscar nominations by comparison?
The nominations are like a weather system: you can sense what’s coming and by the time the list lands it often confirms the campaign narratives. But this year the Oscars surprised me. They have tended to be stronger than the Baftas when it comes to recognising stories from outside the traditional centre. It feels like there’s a curiosity about whose stories are being told.
Communications executive 1, male, Bafta voter
What pleased or surprised you about the Bafta nominations?
I was delighted by love for I Swear, The Ballad Of Wallis Island and Pillion. I was pleased to see Paul Mescal for Hamnet and Peter Mullan for I Swear nominated in supporting acting for Bafta, but disappointed that Mescal didn’t make it for the Oscars. He should have been ahead of Jacob Elordi – despite some critics’ body wins, I was not a fan of his performance in Frankenstein.
What do you make of the Oscar nominations by comparison?
It’s interesting the impact of the increased international membership reflected in films like The Secret Agent picking up an acting nomination for Wagner Moura from Ampas but not appearing on the Bafta lists.
Production & sales executive, female, Bafta voter
What pleased or surprised you about the Bafta nominations?
I was surprised and disappointed that films like The Secret Agent and Sirât didn’t appear in more categories, especially the technical ones. The outstanding British film category also seems to contain a lot of bigger-budget, broader audience propositions, whereas it would have been nice to see some of the quieter, better-reviewed films in that category. Very cool to see a film like Sinners receive so much endorsement.
What do you make of the Oscar nominations by comparison?
Not that surprising, especially as there is so much overlap [at] Bafta. But I was pleasantly surprised that international films had a bigger presence across all the nominations.
Producer 3, male, Bafta voter
What pleased or surprised you about the Bafta nominations?
What surprised me was that the nominations are concentrated on so few films – although I’m very happy to see Sinners receive so many nominations given that Bafta voters have failed to recognise films by Black filmmakers so often in the past. But voters seem to be ticking predictable boxes, and I don’t understand why Bafta only has five best film nominees but six in the director and acting categories. I also don’t understand the division between the children’s and family film and the animation categories – it’s not making sense to me or other voters.
What do you make of the Oscar nominations by comparison?
As for the Oscars, the Baftas should follow suit and have 10 spots for best film and ringfence five of those spots for British films. That would at least make it a bit more interesting. Wagner Moura being nominated for leading actor for The Secret Agent makes sense, and I’m not sure what Bafta voters were thinking – he didn’t even make the longlist, which was a huge omission.
I think the Oscar nominations are much stronger than the Baftas this year, with more interesting choices and more Sinners. I’m going to say that the Oscars diversity push was clearly more successful than the Baftas based on the showing of nominations and prizes in recent years.
Communications executive 2, male, Bafta voter
What pleased or surprised you about the Bafta nominations?
I wasn’t hugely surprised by either set of nominations this year. The narrative around which films would dominate was set quite early in the season and remained largely consistent. Wicked: For Good is the only major surprise for me; I thought the two leads were certainties and that the film would make a stronger showing in the craft categories.
My main takeaway is that, with a couple of exceptions, bigger is better. Voters seem drawn to louder films that sit somewhere between pure commercial and pure arthouse. Quieter films, including The Mastermind, one of my favourites, have largely been drowned out. I’m happy that British films and talent are genuinely in the mix alongside the major Oscar contenders, rather than being confined to Bafta’s two British film categories. Seeing Robert Aramayo’s name alongside DiCaprio, Chalamet et al is delightful.
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