THE MOVIE awards season moves one step closer to the Oscars tomorrow night when The Orange British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) awards are handed out at the Royal Opera House in London.
Several Irish notables are up for gongs at the ceremony, which – following the “Manuelgate” embarrassment – is to be hosted by a newly chastened Jonathan Ross.
In Bruges, the cult farce written and directed by Martin McDonagh, south London’s favourite Irish writer, is competing in an impressive four categories, including best British film. McDonagh is nominated for best screenplay; Brendan Gleeson is up for best supporting actor and the picture also gets a nod for best film editing. Hunger, Steve McQueen’s study of Bobby Sands’s last days, joins In Bruges in the best British film race and McQueen is also nominated for The Carl Foreman Award, which honours the best newcomer. Michael Fassbender, who plays Sands, is up for the Orange rising star award.
Veteran Irish producer Redmond Morris, one of the producers of Stephen Daldry’s The Reader, will be hoping that his film can power past favourite Slumdog Millionaire and grab the best film prize.
This year, the films nominated for best picture at the Baftas – Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Reader, Frost/Nixon and Milk – precisely match those nominated for the equivalent Academy Award. If, as expected, Slumdog Millionaire triumphs, then the odds on it winning the Oscar on February 22nd will shorten.
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