All Quiet on the Western Front leads BAFTA 2023 nominations

Leading the pack was All Quiet on the Western Front with a whopping 14 nominations, only equalling Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2001) as the film not the English language with the most nominations in BAFTA’s history. The Netflix title was followed by The Banshees of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All at Once, both with 10 nominations, and Baz Luhrman’s Elvis with nine.

Cate Blanchett-starring Tár has five nominations, while Aftersun, The Batman, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Top Gun: Maverick and The Whale all have four. Babylon, Empire of Light, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Living and Triangle of Sadness all came in with three. There were two nominations for Avatar: The Way of Water, Decision to Leave, The Quiet Girl, Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical, She Said and The Woman King.

Then there was one nomination for each of the following: All That Breathes; All The Beauty and the Bloodshed; Amsterdam; Argentina, 1985; Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Blonde; Blue Jean; Brian and Charles; Corsage; Electric Malady; The Fabelmans; Fire of Love; The Good Nurse; Marcel the Shell with Shoes On; Moonage Daydream; Mrs Harris Goes to Paris; Navalny; Puss in Boots: The Last Wish; Rebellion; See How They Run; The Swimmers; Till; Turning Red and The Wonder.

The following British shorts were nominated: The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse; Middle Watch; Your Mountain Is Waiting; The Ballad of Olive Morris; Bazigaga; Bus Girl; A Drifting Up and An Irish Goodbye.

First-time nominees feature heavily this year, with 14 of the 24 nominees in the performance categories receiving their first BAFTA Film nomination. They include Ana De Armas (Blonde); Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) Austin Butler (Elvis), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin); Brendan Fraser (The Whale); Paul Mescal (Aftersun), and Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once).

The nominees for the EE Rising Star Award were announced on 17 January as Aimee Lou Wood, Daryl McCormack, Emma Mackey, Naomi Ackie and Sheila Atim. It is the only award voted for by the British public and it is presented annually to a performer who has demonstrated exceptional talent early in their careers. Voting is now open at ee.co.uk/bafta.

Alongside this year’s EE Rising Star nominee Daryl McCormack, four former EE Rising Stars are nominated: Carey Mulligan (2010); Eddie Redmayne (2012); Barry Keoghan (2019) and Micheal Ward (2020).

In the Best Director category, four of the six are first-time director nominees: Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Woman King); Todd Field (Tár), Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All At Once) and Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front). There was also an all-women list in the Outstanding Debut category: Charlotte Wells for Aftersun, Georgia Oakley and Hélène Sifre for Blue Jean, Marie Lidén for Electric Malady, Katy Brand for Good Luck to You, Leo Grande and Maia Kenworthy for Rebellion.

Some noted absences include Olivia Colman for Empire of Light, director Steven Spielberg for The Fabelmans and James Cameron for Avatar: The Way of Water. Films Women Talking and Glass Onion have also not appeared on the list.

Initial reactions from nominees were flooding in yesterday. Charlotte Wells, writer/director of Aftersun, nominated for Outstanding British Film, said: “Floored to receive news of BAFTA nominations this morning. A year ago, snowed in the edit room, this was completely outside the realm of possibility; even fantasy. Thank you so much to the BAFTA members who voted to recognise the film and particularly the sublime work of Paul Mescal and our casting director Lucy Pardee. I can’t wait to celebrate with them on the red carpet.” 

Edward Berger, director, producer and co-writer of All Quiet on the Western Front, nominated for Best Film, FNIEL, Director, Adapted Screenplay, said: “We are speechless and overwhelmed. It’s an enormous honour to be acknowledged by the British Film Academy. That the film has resonated with so many people is a testament to Erich Maria Remarque’s extraordinary book, written one hundred years ago and yet sadly still relevant today. It was our north star. The novel‘s powerful anti-war message unites us, no matter which country we live in. We are indebted to our incredible creative team — each person was an integral part of the whole and turned the film into what it is now. Thank you so much, BAFTA. We are deeply humbled.”

Colin Farrell, nominated for Leading Actor for The Banshees of Inisherin, said: “I’m so thrilled and grateful for this honour. That I get to share the moment with my fellow Banshees makes it all the sweeter. Congratulations to all the other nominees and a hearty thanks to BAFTA.” While Martin McDonagh, the writer, director and producer of the film, which also has been nominated for Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Director, Original Screenplay, said: “Am so thrilled that our whole Banshees gang have been recognised by the BAFTA voters, and look forward to partying with them and our fellow nominees on the 19th!”

Ana de Armas reflected on her nomination for Leading Actress for Blonde: “I’m overjoyed! What an honour to be nominated for a BAFTA alongside some of the best actresses in the world. Having my work in Blonde recognized by such a prestigious academy means the world to me. Thank you so much!”

Austin Butler said of his nomination for Leading Actor in Elvis: “Thank you BAFTA for this incredible honour for both myself and our film. The three-year journey to bring the one and only Elvis to life was the experience of a lifetime as an actor. It was a privilege to work alongside our amazing cast and crew each and every day. Thank you, Baz, for encouraging me to take risks and including me in your extraordinary vision for this film.” Baz Luhrmann, director, writer and producer of the movie, nominated for Best Film, said: “On behalf of the Elvis producers, thank you BAFTA for honouring our film with nine nominations. This recognition means the world to all of us and we are proud to be nominated for Best Film alongside such remarkable works of cinema. In Elvis Presley, you couldn’t find a better life to explore our profound fascination with pop culture and the massive societal changes that took us through the 50s, 60s and 70s. Elvis was at the centre of this melting pot of music and rebellion coming together at the birth of rock ‘n’ roll. That’s the story we set out to tell, in a way that would bring a whole new generation of audiences to an understanding of the radical and spiritual artist behind the icon. I couldn’t be more thrilled with the acknowledgement our collaboration has received today for our talented artists and especially for Austin, who lived and breathed Elvis for three years to reveal not just the icon but the humanity of the man.”

Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, directors of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, nominated for Best Animated Film, said: “We are honoured to receive this nomination on behalf of the over two hundred artists who sculpted, carved, painted, lit, scheduled, dreamed and animated this labour of love. We carried this film for over a decade, in the hopes that we could deliver its message of life, loss and love. Many thanks to BAFTA for recognising our work.”

Sally El Hosaini, director of The Swimmers, nominated for Outstanding British Film, said: “I’m over the moon and so incredibly proud of our dedicated team. To be nominated for a BAFTA is the ultimate honour. Yet if the recently added amendment to the UK online safety bill occurs, films like The Swimmers will be banned online as it will be a criminal offence to show footage of small boats crossing the channel in a positive light. As Clare Moseley from Care 4 Calais says: ‘Our country’s response should be a matter of open and honest debate. If this bill limits our ability to highlight the plight of refugees, it not only threatens their rights but sets a worrying precedent for campaigners.’”

Todd Field, director of Tár, nominated for Best Film, said: “On behalf of the many hands responsible for the making of Tár, we feel so honoured to have our film, and the performance of Cate Blanchett – one we all had the extreme privilege to witness while making Tár – recognized by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.”

Danielle Deadwyler, nominated for Best Actress for Till, said: “When you are privileged to make a project, you but only hope to reach across the table to any open eye to witness, to find understanding. This BAFTA nomination still sits in the prescience of Mamie’s brilliance regarding Emmett and her legacy. That connection is global, that resistance is global. Cheers to this nomination, to all nominees, and to the power of global connectivity.” 

Finally, Colm Bairéad, writer and director of The Quiet Girl, nominated for Best Film Not In the English Language, said: “We are beyond thrilled that An Cailín Ciúin has received these nominations from BAFTA and are so happy that its academy members have opened their hearts to our film. We feel so proud that for the first time, an Irish-language feature film has been nominated at these prestigious awards and that our native language is finding its voice on cinema’s world stage. A huge thank you to BAFTA, to our funders, Screen Ireland, TG4 and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, to our distributors Curzon and Break Out Pictures, to our sales agent, Bankside Films, to IFTA and to our extraordinary cast and crew, all of whom have brought The Quiet Girl on this remarkable journey. A special thank you also to Claire Keegan upon whose timeless work, Foster, this film is based.”

The EE BAFTA Film Awards will take place on Sunday 19^th February 2023 at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall and will be broadcast in the UK from 7pm on BBC1 and iPlayer, and syndicated globally. Award-winning actor, presenter and author Richard E Grant will host the ceremony. For the first time, the ceremony will reveal the final four category winners live on the show.

The editorial unit

Winners will be announced at the EE BAFTA Film Awards on Sunday 19^th February 2023 at 7pm on BBC1 and iPlayer, and @BAFTA. For more information, visit the BAFTA website here.

The full list of nominations is below:

Best Film