Emilia Pérez takes away 11 nominations and Karla Sofía Gascón is the first trans woman to be nominated for a Best Leading Actress award
BY YASMIN VINCE, IMAGES BY NETFLIX, UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND A24
Awards season is well underway. Though the Critics Choice awards has been delayed due to the LA wildfires, the march towards the Oscars continues with the Bafta nominations marking the next step on the way.
The nominations were announced today (15 January). But how queer are they?
Emilia Pérez sweeps the categories
The nominations saw Emilia Pérez receive 11 nods, second only to Conclave, which scored 12. The trans film, though divisive, has dominated the awards so far, particularly in the category of Best Actress, where Karla Sofía Gascón has been consistently making history as the first trans woman to be nominated/win at various awards shows. She has been nominated in the same category at the BAFTAs and is, once again, the first trans woman to do so.
Emilia Pérez has also been nominated for Best Film, Adapted Screenplay, Non-English Language Film, Director, Cinematography, Editing, Hair and Make-up, Score and twice for Supporting Actress. Both Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldana have been nominated in that category, meaning Adriana Paz, who played Emilia’s girlfriend Epifania, is the only one of the four actresses who won the joint Best Actress award at Cannes to not be nominated.
Wicked performs well but misses out on Best Film
Wicked has also scored big, taking home seven nominations. Cynthia Erivo will be going up against Gascón for Best Actress, while Ariana Grande is up for Best Supporting Actress. The film is also up for Costume Design, Hair and Make-up, Production Design, Sound and Visual Effects. It missed out on a Best Film nomination, despite the film ultimately receiving a warmer reception from audiences and critics than Emilia Pérez, but its seven nominations still make Wicked one of the more decorated films of the year.
Nosferatu gets technical nods
Recent film Nosferatu will be competing against Wicked in many of the same categories – namely Costume Design, Hair and Make-up and Production Design. It’s also up for Cinematography and Score. The film, alongside Babygirl, has become something of a social media phenomenon in the past few weeks, with many online saying they’re booking a “Babyferatu” double bill.
Love Lies Bleeding gets a nod
Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian were incredible in Rose Glass’ 80s sapphic thriller, Love Lies Bleeding. The film has been nominated for Outstanding British Film. This comes just over a month after the film received several nominations at the British Independent Film Awards but only took home Best Cinematography.
Marisa Abela could be the next Rising Star
The BAFTA Rising Star nominations were announced earlier in the year and is the only category that can be voted on by the public. This year, Marisa Abela has been nominated. Though the actress herself is not queer, the role for which she’s been nominated is. Last year, Abela played bi-icon Amy Winehouse in Back To Black.
Will & Harper could win Best Documentary
This documentary, which dove into Will Ferrell and Harper Steele’s friendship following the latter’s transition, has been nominated for several high profile documentary awards, including Best Documentary Feature at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. Is this the awards show where the powerful film finally wins a mainstream award?
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