Earlier on this morning, the nominees for the EE BAFTAs were announced in London’s Piccadilly. Leading the pack this year is the wonderful Carol and the brilliant Bridge Of Spies. Well, reactions from Hollywood are starting to come in, and here are some thoughts from some of the nominees.
We’ll start with Carol, and here are some thoughts from Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley, number9 films, producers of the film. “We are thrilled for Todd Haynes Phyllis Nagy and the entire Carol team and of course the magnificent Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara on the eve of the Golden Globe awards in Los Angeles that BAFTA has chosen to honour the film in such an incredible way with nine nominations! Its fitting that with such strong UK connections at the initial development stage and especially with the incredible support of Film 4 throughout the entire process that the film has gained such an overwhelming endorsement from BAFTA. We would also like to thank our American producing partner Christine Vachon and Killer films. Our UK distributor Studio Canal. But especially the BAFTA voters. Thank you.”
The magnificent Room is also nominated in multiple categories, and Brie Larson notably is nominated for Leading Actress. “Thank you BAFTA for this wonderful acknowledgment. I’m proud to be a part of a film that has touched so many people around the world and to share this moment with Lenny, Emma, Jacob and the entire cast and crew of Room.”
Emma Donahue, who wrote the novel on which Room is based, as well as the screenplay, which is also nominated, said the following: “I’m over the moon to be nominated for a BAFTA for Adapted Screenplay for ROOM. As a first-timer, to find myself in the company of such superb scriptwriters is an honour I’ll never forget. But much of the credit should go to our extraordinary director Lenny Abrahamson, my teacher and mentor in filmcraft. I’m also delighted that BAFTA has recognised the astounding performance of Brie Larson.”
Up against the mighty Inside Out is the brilliant Shaun The Sheep from Aardman. Co-writer Richard Starzak said: “I’m chuffed to bits! Very proud of the film, my co-writer/director Mark Burton, and delighted for the Aardman crew who brought the film to life.”
Leonardo DiCaprio added his comments late on Friday for his nomination for The Revenant, “I am grateful to BAFTA for their acknowledgment of The Revenant. There aren’t enough BAFTA categories to award every person that worked each day, to realize Alejandro’s vision. Hundreds of people behind the scenes — grips, artists, extras and the list goes on. I thank BAFTA for recognizing my work because by doing so they are also shining a light on the extraordinary work of a massive and amazing team.”
Twitter has also been lighting up. Here’s a few of our favourite responses so far. We’ll keep this updated as nominee reactions come in.
SO delighted that #ShauntheSheepMovie is nominated for Best Animated Movie #EEBAFTAs Hooves crossed for Feb 14th! pic.twitter.com/zOpsEBN6ne
— Aardman Animations (@aardman) January 8, 2016
Asif Kapadia, who is nominated for the superb documentary Amy, tweeted the following shortly after the nominees were announced earlier this morning.
Huge Congrats to all of the #AMY team, nominated for two BAFTAs!! @AmyFilmUK @AmyTheMovie full list of noms; https://t.co/NGytzw1ovM
— asifkapadia (@asifkapadia) January 8, 2016
