LONDON (AP) 鈥� Visceral German-language war drama 鈥淎ll Quiet on the Western Front鈥� got a field-leading 14 nominations on Thursday for the British Academy Film Awards, with genre-bending comedies 鈥淭he Banshees of Inisherin鈥� and 鈥淓verything Everywhere All at Once鈥� each nominated in 10 categories.
鈥淎ll Quiet,鈥� an unflinching adaptation of a classic antiwar novel about life and death in the World War I trenches, was a surprise front-runner, up for awards including best film and best director, for Edward Berger. Its tally of nominations is a joint record for a film not in the English language, equaling the 14 for 鈥淐rouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon鈥� in 2001.
Berger said the film鈥檚 team was 鈥渟peechless and overwhelmed鈥� by the raft of nominations.
Felix Kammerer, who plays the film's central character, Paul, said the film's tragic relevance to today had struck a chord with audiences.
鈥淲e see a lot of reaction by people who tell us it鈥檚 so jarring to see ... images from Ukraine, and to see the images in this movie. And they are hardly distinguishable," he told The Associated Press.
鈥淲hat stays the same, like 100 years ago, is the horror and the brutality.鈥�
Martin McDonagh鈥檚 Irish tragicomedy 鈥淏anshees鈥� has nominations including best picture, best director and best actor, for Colin Farrell. Nominations for madcap metaverse adventure 鈥淓verything Everywhere鈥� include nods for co-directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert 鈥� known jointly as 鈥渢he Daniels鈥� 鈥� and a best-actress nomination for Michelle Yeoh.
Baz Lurhmann鈥檚 flamboyant musical biopic 鈥淓lvis鈥� is up for nine awards, including best picture.
The BAFTAs are Britain鈥檚 equivalent of Hollywood鈥檚 Academy Awards. The winners will be announced Feb. 19 during a ceremony at London鈥檚 Royal Festival Hall hosted by actor Richard E. Grant.
The nominations help cement 鈥淏anshees鈥� and 鈥淓verything Everywhere鈥� as awards-season favorites, following momentum-building wins at the Golden Globes and multiple nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards,
The BAFTA best-picture nominees are 鈥淎ll Quiet on the Western Front,鈥� 鈥淭he Banshees of Inisherin,鈥� 鈥淓lvis,鈥� 鈥淓verything Everywhere All at Once鈥� and Todd Field鈥檚 symphonic psychodrama 鈥淭谩r.鈥�
The 10 nominees for outstanding British film, a separate category, include Charlotte Wells鈥� 1990s family drama 鈥淎ftersun,鈥� Sam Mendes鈥� semi-autobiographical 鈥淓mpire of Light鈥� and Sophie Hyde鈥檚 smart sex comedy 鈥淕ood Luck to You, Leo Grande.鈥�
Britain鈥檚 film academy introduced changes to increase the awards鈥� diversity in 2020, when no women were nominated as best director for the seventh year running and all 20 nominees in the lead and supporting performer categories were white.
The voting process was rejigged to add a 鈥渓onglist鈥� round in the voting before the selection of the final nominees that are voted on by the academy membership of several thousand industry professionals. For the best film prize, academy members choose a 15-film longlist that all members must watch before voting for the winner.
This year there are 11 female directors up for awards across all categories, including documentary and animated films. But just one of the main best-director nominees is female: Gina Prince-Bythewood for 鈥淭he Woman King.鈥� The other nominees are Berger, McDonagh, Kwan/Scheinert, Field and Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, for 鈥淒ecision to Leave.鈥�
Unlike some awards, including U.K. music prizes the Brits, the BAFTAs have retained separate male and female acting categories, though that is under review.
Leading actress contenders are Yeoh; Cate Blanchett for 鈥淭谩r鈥�: Viola Davis for 鈥淭he Woman King鈥�; Danielle Deadwyler for 鈥淭ill鈥�; Ana de Armas for 鈥淏londe鈥� and Emma Thompson for 鈥淕ood Luck to You, Leo Grande.鈥�
The best-actor category pits Farrell against Austin Butler for 鈥淓lvis鈥�; Brendan Fraser for 鈥淭he Whale鈥�; Daryl McCormack for 鈥淕ood Luck to You, Leo Grande,鈥� Paul Mescal for 鈥淎ftersun鈥� and Bill Nighy for 鈥淟iving.鈥�
鈥淚 kind of love that half of them are Irish 鈥� myself, Colin and Paul,鈥� said McCormack, who is nominated for his role as a sex worker in 鈥淟eo Grande.鈥�
This is a strong year for Irish talent at the BAFTAs, with Brendan Gleeson. Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon all getting acting nominations in the supporting performer categories.
McCormack, who made a splash last year in the TV series 鈥淏ad Sisters,鈥� is also up for the BAFTA Rising Star award alongside actors Aimee Lou Wood, Daryl McCormack, Emma Mackey, Naomi Ackie and Sheila Atim.
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Associated Press video journalist Hilary Fox contributed to this story.
Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
