We profile all the UK films that were nominated for the 2017 Baftas, from Fantastic Beasts to Florence Foster Jenkins.
The 2017 Bafta nominations reflected 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.
Here’s the lowdown on all the British films that made the Bafta shortlist this year.
I, Daniel Blake
Director: Ken Loach
Cast: Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Sharon Percy, Briana Shann, Dylan McKiernan
Synopsis: A middle aged carpenter who requires state welfare after injuring himself, is joined by a single mother in a similar scenario.
Screen review: “While it might not break new ground, there is no denying the potency of the film’s empathetic anguish and fury.”
Reaction: Joe Oppenheimer, acting head of BBC Films [a backer on I, Daniel Blake], said: “We are so proud to have supported these outstanding films, all of which showcase in their own way the very best of British film-making”.
Nominations (five): best film; outstanding British film; director (Ken Loach); original screenplay (Paul Laverty), supporting actress (Hayley Squires)
Read more: ‘I, Daniel Blake’ producer talks UK co-production challenges
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
Director: David Yates
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Ezra Miller
Synopsis: The adventures of writer Newt Scamander in New York’s secret community of witches and wizards seventy years before Harry Potter reads his book in school.
Screen review: “Fantastic Beasts is better the darker it gets, especially in a robust final reel where the film fully hits its stride.”
Nominations (five): outstanding british film; production design; costume design; sound; special visual effects
Read more: How the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ VFX team created a world of amazing monsters
Florence Foster Jenkins
Director: Stephen Frears
Cast: Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant, Simon Helberg
Synopsis: The story of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress who dreamed of becoming an opera singer, despite having a terrible singing voice.
Screen review: “Playing the deluded songbird heiress, and equipped with an impressively padded girth, Meryl Streep hasn’t been in such good-humoured form since 2009’s Julie And Julia.”
Nominations (four): leading actress (Meryl Streep); supporting actor (Hugh Grant); costume design; make up and hair
Read more: Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant talk ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’
Notes On Blindness
Director: Pete Middleton, James Spinney
Cast: John M. Hull, Marilyn Hull, Miranda Beinart-Smith
Synopsis: In the summer of 1983, just days before the birth of his first son, writer and theologian John Hull went blind. In order to make sense of the upheaval in his life, he began keeping a diary on audiocassette. This documentary/drama is based on exclusive access to these original recordings.
Screen review: “Hull’s wisdom, and the agility of his insights as he struggles to make sense of his condition, form the basis of this elegant, evocative and deeply affecting documentary.”
Nominations (three): outstanding British film; outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer (Peter Middleton, James Spinney, Jo-Jo Ellison); documentary
Read more: Q&A with ‘Notes On Blindness’ directors Peter Middleton and James Spinney
Under The Shadow
Director: Babak Anvari
Cast: Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby Naderi
Synopsis: As a mother and daughter struggle to cope with the terrors of the post-revolution, war-torn Tehran of the 1980s, a mysterious evil begins to haunt their home.
Screen review: “What’s particularly interesting is the use of the veil as a symbol of the threat which haunts Shideh and her daughter.”
Reaction: Babak Anvari said on Twitter: “So honoured that Under the Shadow @UTSFilm has got two @BAFTA nominations! Big thanks to everyone who helped us make it happen!”
Nominations (two): outstanding British film; outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer (Babak Anvari, Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan Toh)
Read more: Babak Anvari talks ‘Under The Shadow’
Denial
Director: Mick Jackson
Cast: Rachel Weisz, Tom Wilkinson, Timothy Spall
Synopsis: Acclaimed writer and historian Deborah E. Lipstadt must battle for historical truth to prove the Holocaust actually occurred when David Irving, a renowned denier, sues her for libel.
Screen review: “Jackson’s film is best enjoyed for the quality of the performances and the typical richness of Hare’s screenplay.”
Nominations (one): outstanding British film
Read more: How did UK films fare in the US in 2016?
American Honey
Director: Andrea Arnold
Cast: Sasha Lane, Shia LaBeouf, Riley Keough
Synopsis: A teenage girl with nothing to lose joins a traveling magazine sales crew, and gets caught up in a whirlwind of hard partying, law bending and young love as she criss-crosses the Midwest with a band of misfits.
Screen review: “Visually the film is terrific, Robbie Ryan’s restlessly shifting, often sun-soaked photography vividly snapping up snatched moments of industrial drabness and bucolic bliss.”
Reaction: Backer Film4 tweeted: “Congratulations to team American Honey, nominated for Outstanding British Film at this year’s #EEBAFTAs!”
Nominations (one): outstanding British film
Read more: Andrea Arnold talks ‘American Honey’, ‘Wuthering Heights’ challenges at Tribeca
The Girl With All The Gifts
Director: Colm McCarthy
Cast: Gemma Arterton, Glenn Close, Anamaria Marinca
Synopsis: A scientist and a teacher living in a dystopian future embark on a journey of survival with a special young girl named Melanie.
Screen review: “A smartly compelling, emotionally engaging and stylishly executed film that revitalises the zombie genre.”
Nominations (one): outstanding British film; outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer (Mike Carey, Camille Gatin)
Read more: The story behind ‘The Girl With All The Gifts’
The Girl On The Train
Director: Tate Taylor
Cast: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson
Synopsis: A divorcee becomes entangled in a missing persons investigation that promises to send shockwaves throughout her life.
Screen review: “Taylor aspires to gravitas, which only makes everything seem that much sillier.”
Nominations (one): best actress (Emily Blunt)
Read more: Viggo Mortensen, Emily Blunt in surprise 2017 SAG Awards nods
The Hard Stop
Director: George Amponsah, George Amponsah
Cast: Marcus Knox Hooke, Kurtis Henville
Synopsis: The police killing of Mark Duggan in London, 2011, ignited the worst civil unrest in recent British history and made headlines around the globe.
Nominations (one): outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer (George Amponsah, Dionne Walker)
Read more: Metrodome to donate ‘The Hard Stop’ revenue to charity
The Pass
Director: Ben A. Williams
Cast: Russell Tovey, Arinzé Kene, Lisa McGrillis
Synopsis: Based on the John Donnelly play of the same name, The Pass revolves around sexual encounter between two premier league footballers and its repercussions for years afterwards.
Screen review: “[The film is] assisted by a blistering performance from Russell Tovey as a cunning premier-league player whose secret is rotting him from the inside.”
Reaction: Star Russell Tovey tweeted: “Huge exciting news for our movie @LionsgateUK #ThePass - @BAFTA nominated for outstanding debut for @propershameful and @filmbenwilliams !!”
Nominations (one): outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer (John Donnelly, Ben A. Williams)
Read more: Duncan Kenworthy talks his under-the-radar strategy for ‘The Pass’
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