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Atonement gets 14 Bafta nods
16/01/2008 11:08 - (SA)
London - Tragic period romance Atonement dominated the race for the British Academy Film Awards, with nominations in 14 categories including best picture, actor, actress and director.
No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood and The Bourne Ultimatum also received multiple nods for Britain's equivalent of the Oscars, organizers announced on Wednesday.
The prizes, to be awarded at a ceremony at London's Royal Opera House on February 10, are considered an important indicator of prospects at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles next month.
This year they have a higher-than-usual profile, with the Hollywood screenwriters' strike muting the traditional glamour of the show-business awards season in the US.
In an eclectic field of nominees, Joel and Ethan Coen's noir western No Country for Old Men received nine nods, including best director and three best supporting performer nominations, for Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and Kelly Macdonald.
Historical epic There Will be Blood also received nine nominations, including best actor for Daniel Day-Lewis.
Literary tear-jerker
Atonement, adapted from Ian McEwan's literary tear-jerker about an ill-starred romance, played out against the backdrop of World War II, was nominated for best picture and best British picture.
Stars Keira Knightley and James McAvoy were nominated in the acting categories, and Joe Wright was short listed for best director.
Atonement won the best-picture prize at the Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday, although Knightley and McAvoy lost out on the acting prizes.
The full list of best-picture nominees is Atonement, There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, crime epic American Gangster and German drama The Lives of Others.
In the separate category of best British film, Atonement is up against The Bourne Ultimatum, Russian mafia thriller Eastern Promises, skinhead drama This is England and Joy Division biopic Control.
Leading actress nominees
The best-actor contenders are McAvoy, Day-Lewis, George Clooney for Michael Clayton, Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises and the late Ulrich Muhe for The Lives of Others.
Leading actress nominees are Knightley, Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Julie Christie for Away from Her, Marion Cotillard for La Vie En Rose and newcomer Ellen Page for Juno.
The British awards - officially the Orange British Academy Film Awards but known as Baftas - have become an essential pre-Oscars stop since they were moved in 2000 from April to a February date to precede the Academy Awards in Hollywood.
- AP
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South Africa
