BAFTA rolls out red carpet for foreign films including 'All Quiet on the Western Front'
Germany, Ireland and Chinese martial arts loom large as British cinema hands out its BAFTA awards on Sunday, with less than a month to go to the Oscars.
With 14 nods, German director Edward Berger's 'All Quiet on the Western Front' is the joint most-nominated foreign-language film in the BAFTA academy's 76-year history.
It has tied with Ang Lee's martial arts drama 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', co-starring Michelle Yeoh, which won the same number of nominations in 2001.
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Yeoh is nominated for best actress this year as a worn-down laundromat owner who transforms into a high-kicking heroine, in the wildly inventive 'Everything Everywhere All At Once.'
Yeoh's kung-fu science-fiction film received 10 BAFTA nominations, as did the pitch-black Irish comedy 'The Banshees of Inisherin' co-starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson.
'Elvis', Baz Luhrmann's biopic of the king of rock 'n' roll, is on nine nominations, with classical music psychological drama 'Tar' in line for five awards including best actress for Cate Blanchett.
The main awards of the ceremony, the highlight of the British film calendar and a key indicator to the Oscars on March 12, will be handed out at London's Royal Festival Hall from 1900 GMT.
Ahead of the ceremony, BAFTA chairman Krishnendu Majumdar stressed the "amazing range" of work up for recognition.
"It's crucial that people go to the cinema, it's part of our culture," he told AFP, expressing hope that the success of 'Top Gun 2' and 'Elvis' heralded a revival after the pandemic.
The best actor category will pit Farrell against Paul Mescal (Aftersun), Austin Butler (Elvis), Daryl McCormack (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande), Bill Nighy (Living) and Brendan Fraser (The Whale).
For best actress, along with Yeoh and Blanchett, the competition is among Ana de Armas (Blonde), Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande), Danielle Deadwyler (Till) and Viola Davis (The Woman King).
Other best director nominees include Martin McDonagh for 'Banshees', Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert jointly for Yeoh's film, Todd Field (Tar) and Park Chan-wook (Decision to Leave).
