La La Land leads the nominations for the EE British Academy Film Awards, which were announced in London today (January 10).

The musical received 11 nominations, including for best film, director (Damien Chazelle), original screenplay, leading actress (Emma Stone) and leading actor (Ryan Gosling).

• Baftas 2017: The full list of nominations

The film has momentum behind it after winning a record seven awards at the 2017 Golden Globes.

La La Land will compete with I, Daniel Blake, Manchester By The Sea, Moonlight and Arrival for the best film prize.

Arrival, a cerebral science-fiction from Denis Villeneuve, is up for nine awards including director, adapted screenplay and leading actress (Amy Adams).

Nocturnal Animals also has nine nominations, though it didn’t make the cut for best film. Director Tom Ford is nominated, with stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Jake Gyllenhaal up for best supporting actor and best actor respectively.

Bafta chief exec Amanda Berry told Screen International that they’ve “definitely spread the love this year” with the nominations.

“It sums up what has been an interesting year in that you have such incredibly different films leading the nominations’” she said.

“A number of people have asked me if La La Land [has been successful] because we’ve had such a grim year that we’ve needed something very ‘up’, but La La Land is such a unique film and then you couldn’t get two more different films in Arrival and Nocturnal Animals. The list that has been chosen is a very strong list.”

Nominees by numbers

• 11 – La La Land
• 9 – Arrival, Nocturnal Animals
• 6 – Manchester By The Sea
• 5 – Fantastic Beasts, Hacksaw Ridge, I, Daniel Blake, Lion
• 4 – Florence Foster Jenkins, Moonlight
• 3 – Doctor Strange, Hell Or High Water, Jackie, Notes On Blindness

British film

The outstanding British film category reflects the breadth of filmmaking taking place in the UK today, with blockbuster Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them competing against Iran-set indie horror Under The Shadow. Ken Loach’s acclaimed I, Daniel Blake also makes the list alongside acclaimed documentary Notes On Blindness and Andrea Arnold’s multiple BIFA winner American Honey.

Berry said that Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them - shot mostly in the UK and with majority British talent but distributed by Warner Bros. - is “absolutely a British film on many levels”. She added: “They are all very different films with a wide range of subject matters and I think it’s a strong year for British films.”

Acting surprises

Manchester By The Sea star Casey Affleck will be odds-on favourite for the best actor award after triumphing at the Golden Globes. He will compete with fellow Globe winner Ryan Gosling (La La Land).

Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Jake Gyllenhaal (Nocturnal Animals) and, perhaps surprisingly, Viggo Mortensen for Captain Fantastic will be considered outsiders. Denzel Washington (Fences) missed out.

In the best actress category, the strongest competition for Emma Stone and Amy Adams could be Natalie Portman for her acclaimed turn as Jackie Kennedy in Jackie.

Meryl Streep, in the news recently for speaking out against Donald Trump at the Golden Globes, also made the cut alongside Emily Blunt for The Girl On The Train - another mildly surprising nomination. Loving’s Ruth Negga missed out, though she has been nominated for a rising star award. Golden Globe winner Isabelle Huppert (Elle) was not eligible for a Bafta this year as Elle is not released until the spring.

In the supporting actor categories, Viola Davis will be heavily fancied for her performance in Fences having already won the Golden Globe. She’s up against Michelle Williams (Manchester By The Sea), Naomie Harris (Moonlight), Nicole Kidman (Lion) and London-born I, Daniel Blake star Hayley Squires.  

The men’s category seems more open, with Mahersha Ali (Moonlight) perhaps the favourite, though Aaron Taylor-Johnson beat him at the Golden Globes. Brits Dev Patel (Lion) and Hugh Grant (Florence Foster Jenkins) are also in the mix alongside Jeff Bridges for Hell Or High Water.

Distributors

eOne topped the distributors list with 20 nominations, helped by Arrival (nine), I, Daniel Blake (five) and Jackie (three). The mini-major had its best ever year at the UK box office in 2016.

Lionsgate is close behind with 18 thanks to La La Land (11) and Hacksaw Ridge (five), while Universal was the most succesful major studio with 11 nominations.

Diversity

In recent years film award shows have been heavily criticised for a lack of diversity amongst the nominees. Berry told us that the subject was forefront for Bafta voters this year.

“I think everybody is much more aware of diversity now than really ever before and everybody is absolutely aware of how important it is to tell the stories of our world. Film can do that and we’re starting to see that coming through.

“The subject matters are more diverse, and there are more opportunities for [non-white] talent both in front of and behind the camera to be part of those films.”

In December Bafta introduced a series of diversity measures following survey of members.

The awards will take place on Feb 12 at the Royal Albert Hall and will be hosted once again by Stephen Fry. The show will be broadcast on BBC One.

2017 nominations

BEST FILM

• ARRIVAL Dan Levine, Shawn Levy, David Linde, Aaron Ryder
• I, DANIEL BLAKE Rebecca O’Brien
• LA LA LAND Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz, Marc Platt
• MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Lauren Beck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Kimberly Steward, Kevin J. Walsh
• MOONLIGHT Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

• AMERICAN HONEY Andrea Arnold, Lars Knudsen, Pouya Shahbazian, Jay Van Hoy
• DENIAL Mick Jackson, Gary Foster, Russ Krasnoff, David Hare
• FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM David Yates, J.K. Rowling, David Heyman, Steve Kloves, Lionel Wigram
• I, DANIEL BLAKE Ken Loach, Rebecca O’Brien, Paul Laverty
• NOTES ON BLINDNESS Peter Middleton, James Spinney, Mike Brett, Jo-Jo Ellison, Steve Jamison
• UNDER THE SHADOW Babak Anvari, Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan Toh

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER 

• The Girl With All the Gifts: MIKE CAREY (Writer), CAMILLE GATIN (Producer) 
• The Hard Stop: GEORGE AMPONSAH (Writer/Director/Producer), DIONNE WALKER (Writer/Producer) 
• Notes on Blindness: PETER MIDDLETON (Writer/Director/Producer), JAMES SPINNEY (Writer/Director), JO-JO ELLISON (Producer) 
• The Pass: JOHN DONNELLY (Writer), BEN A. WILLIAMS (Director) 
• Under the Shadow: BABAK ANVARI (Writer/Director), EMILY LEO, OLIVER ROSKILL, LUCAN TOH (Producers) 

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

• DHEEPAN Jacques Audiard, Pascal Caucheteux
• JULIETA Pedro Almodóvar
• MUSTANG Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Charles Gillibert
• SON OF SAUL László Nemes, Gábor Sipos
• TONI ERDMANN Maren Ade, Janine Jackowski 

DOCUMENTARY

• 13th Ava DuVernay
• THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK- THE TOURING YEARS Ron Howard
• THE EAGLE HUNTRESS Otto Bell, Stacey Reiss
• NOTES ON BLINDNESS Peter Middleton, James Spinney
• WEINER Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg

ANIMATED FILM

• FINDING DORY Andrew Stanton
• KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS Travis Knight
• MOANA Ron Clements, John Musker
• ZOOTROPOLIS Byron Howard, Rich Moore

DIRECTOR

• ARRIVAL Denis Villeneuve
• I, DANIEL BLAKE Ken Loach
• LA LA LAND Damien Chazelle
• MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Kenneth Lonergan
• NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Tom Ford

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• HELL OR HIGH WATER Taylor Sheridan
• I, DANIEL BLAKE Paul Laverty
• LA LA LAND Damien Chazelle
• MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Kenneth Lonergan
• MOONLIGHT Barry Jenkins

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• ARRIVAL Eric Heisserer
• HACKSAW RIDGE Robert Schenkkan, Andrew Knight
• HIDDEN FIGURES Theodore Melfi, Allison Schroeder 
• LION Luke Davies
• NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Tom Ford

LEADING ACTOR

• ANDREW GARFIELD Hacksaw Ridge
• CASEY AFFLECK Manchester by the Sea
• JAKE GYLLENHAAL Nocturnal Animals
• RYAN GOSLING La La Land
• VIGGO MORTENSEN Captain Fantastic

LEADING ACTRESS

• AMY ADAMS Arrival
• EMILY BLUNT The Girl on the Train
• EMMA STONE La La Land
• MERYL STREEP Florence Foster Jenkins
• NATALIE PORTMAN Jackie

SUPPORTING ACTOR

• AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON Nocturnal Animals
• DEV PATEL Lion
• HUGH GRANT Florence Foster Jenkins
• JEFF BRIDGES Hell or High Water
• MAHERSHALA ALI Moonlight

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• HAYLEY SQUIRES I, Daniel Blake
• MICHELLE WILLIAMS Manchester by the Sea
• NAOMIE HARRIS Moonlight
• NICOLE KIDMAN Lion
• VIOLA DAVIS Fences

ORIGINAL MUSIC 

• ARRIVAL Jóhann Jóhannsson
• JACKIE Mica Levi
• LA LA LAND Justin Hurwitz
• LION Dustin O’Halloran, Hauschka
• NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Abel Korzeniowski

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• ARRIVAL Bradford Young
• HELL OR HIGH WATER Giles Nuttgens
• LA LA LAND Linus Sandgren
• LION Greig Fraser
• NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Seamus McGarvey

EDITING

• ARRIVAL Joe Walker
• HACKSAW RIDGE John Gilbert
• LA LA LAND Tom Cross
• MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Jennifer Lame
• NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Joan Sobel

PRODUCTION DESIGN

• DOCTOR STRANGE John Bush, Charles Wood
• FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM Stuart Craig, Anna Pinnock
• HAIL, CAESAR! Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh
• LA LA LAND Sandy Reynolds-Wasco, David Wasco
• NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Shane Valentino, Meg Everist

COSTUME DESIGN

• ALLIED Joanna Johnston
• FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM Colleen Atwood
• FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS Consolata Boyle
• JACKIE Madeline Fontaine
• LA LA LAND Mary Zophres

MAKE UP & HAIR

• DOCTOR STRANGE Jeremy Woodhead
• FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS J. Roy Helland, Daniel Phillips
• HACKSAW RIDGE Shane Thomas
• NOCTURNAL ANIMALS Donald Mowat, Yolanda Toussieng
• ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY Nominees tbc

SOUND

• ARRIVAL Claude La Haye, Bernard Gariépy Strobl, Sylvain Bellemare
• DEEPWATER HORIZON Mike Prestwood Smith, Dror Mohar, Wylie Stateman, David Wyman
• FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM Niv Adiri, Glenn Freemantle, Simon Hayes, Andy Nelson, Ian Tapp
• HACKSAW RIDGE Peter Grace, Robert Mackenzie, Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright
• LA LA LAND Mildred Iatrou Morgan, Ai-Ling Lee, Steve A. Morrow, Andy Nelson

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

• ARRIVAL Louis Morin 
• DOCTOR STRANGE Richard Bluff, Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Jonathan Fawkner
• FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM Tim Burke, Pablo Grillo, Christian Manz, David Watkins
• THE JUNGLE BOOK Robert Legato, Dan Lemmon, Andrew R. Jones, Adam Valdez
• ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY Neil Corbould, Hal Hickel, Mohen Leo, John Knoll, Nigel Sumner

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION 

• THE ALAN DIMENSION Jac Clinch, Jonathan Harbottle, Millie Marsh
• A LOVE STORY Khaled Gad, Anushka Kishani Naanayakkara, Elena Ruscombe-King 
• TOUGH Jennifer Zheng

BRITISH SHORT FILM 

• CONSUMED Richard John Seymour
• HOME Shpat Deda, Afolabi Kuti, Daniel Mulloy, Scott O’Donnell
• MOUTH OF HELL Bart Gavigan, Samir Mehanovic, Ailie Smith, Michael Wilson
• THE PARTY Farah Abushwesha, Emmet Fleming, Andrea Harkin, Conor MacNeill
• STANDBY Charlotte Regan, Jack Hannon

EE Rising Star Award

• Tom Holland
• Ruth Negga
• Laia Costa
• Lucas Hedges
• Anya Taylor-Joy