Almodóvar hoping for fifth Bafta with "The Skin I Live In"
Almodóvar hoping for fifth Bafta with "The Skin I Live In"
Pedro Almodóvar is in the running for his fifth BAFTA award, the Oscars of British cinema, after his film "La Piel Que Habito" (The Skin I Live In) was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film of 2011. Other strong contenders for awards at the gala to be held on February 12th are Meryl Streep for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in "Iron Lady", and the French film "The Artist", which has twelve nominations.
The British Academy of the Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) today released its list of candidates, led by France's "The Artist", with twelve, and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", with eleven, including Best Music for the Spaniard Alberto Iglesias.
Almodóvar faces tough competition from Iranian Asghar Farhadi's film "Nader and Simin, a separation," which won the Golden Globe on Sunday.
Almodóvar has been previously recognised by BAFTA, winning awards for "All About My Mother" in 1999 and for "Talk to Her" in 2002, both for best foreign language film and best screenplay.
The list released today by BAFTA includes strong candidates for some of the main awards for Best Actress, with Meryl Streep highly praised for her interpretation of ex-Prime Minister Thatcher, and George Clooney for Best Actor in "Descendants." Both won Golden Globes on Sunday in these categories, although the BAFTA awards often focus on the British cinema.
The silent, black and white movie "The Artist" by French director Michel Hazanavicius is the favourite with twelve BAFTA nominations, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Leading Actress. Starring Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo, "The Artist", which recreates the golden age of Hollywood, won three Golden Globes as well as Critic's Choice for Best Picture and Best Director.
Britain's "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", set during the Cold War and based on a novel by John Le Carré, has eleven nominations, including Best Film, Best British Film, Best Director and Best Soundtrack for Alberto Iglesias, who also composed the music for "The Skin I Live In."
The big favourite for Best Animated Film is Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn", which will again be in contention with "Arthur Christmas: gift Operation 3D," by Sarah Smith, and "Rango", by Gore Verbinski, which it pipped to the post in Sunday's Golden Globes.
Martin Scorsese will receive an honorary award for his career, as other filmmakers like Charles Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock and Steven Spielberg have done in the past.
