DAMIEN Chazelle’s La La Land has received the most nominations for the British Academy Film Awards with 11 nods.
The musical, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, is up for best film, with both of its stars in the running for best actor and actress.
Chazelle is also in the running for best director as well as best original screenplay, while the film is also shortlisted for original music and sound.
La La Land‘s 11 nods come a little over 24 hours after it made records at the Golden Globes with seven awards – winning every category in which it was nominated. The film opens in UK cinemas this Friday.
Following closely behind La La Land with multiple nominations are Denis Villeneuve’s stunning sci-fi drama Arrival and Tom Ford’s revenge thriller Nocturnal Animals, which both grabbed nine nods apiece.
While Ken Loach’s welfare state drama I, Daniel Blake is up for both the best film and best British film awards, with additional nods for its screenplay and for Hayley Squires, who plays a single mother in the film (as best supporting actress).
Arrival, La La Land and I, Daniel Blake are joined in the best film category by Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight.
While other titles in contention for the outstanding British film award include Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them which has five nominations in all, as well as American Honey, Denial, Notes on Blindness and Under The Shadow.
The best actor category will be contested between Gosling, Andrew Garfield (for Mel Gibson’s World War II drama Hacksaw Ridge), Casey Affleck (for Manchester By The Sea, Jake Gyllenhaal (for Nocturnal Animals) and Viggo Mortensen (for Captain Fantastic).
While Stone will contest the best actress category with Meryl Streep (for Florence Foster Jenkins), Amy Adams (Arrival), Natalie Portman (Jackie) and Emily Blunt, who secured a surprise nomination for her performance in The Girl On The Train.
This year’s BAFTA nominations attracted as many surprise nods as it did comments over those that it snubbed, with some critics bemoaning the lack of nominations for films such as Denzel Washington’s Fences, black gay drama Moonlight, Clint Eastwood’s Sully and Andrea Arnold’s American Honey.
In the case of the latter, many thought it should have attracted some acting nods, as well as a best film nomination – it only made the shortlist for outstanding British film, while Arnold was overlooked in the best director category.
Similarly, Moonlight‘s Barry Jenkins failed to make the shortlist for best director despite having featured prominently among nominations for other major awards.
Martin Scorsese was another notable absentee for his latest film, Silence.
But there continues to be as much debate over which films will triumph, with many hailing Ken Loach for attracting so much BAFTA attention.
Indeed, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn welcomed I, Daniel Blake‘s five nominations by congratulating Loach – who is up for best director – and “everyone involved in the brilliant film”.
Another popular nominee was Hugh Grant, who found himself shortlisted in the best supporting actor category for his performance alongside Meryl Streep in Florence Foster Jenkins. The British actor’s only previous BAFTA nomination, and award, came in 1995 for his role in Four Weddings and a Funeral.
He was moved to comment: “This is so kind of BAFTA and I feel very pleased both for myself and for [Daniel Blake]‘s St Clair Bayfield, neither of us having been exactly awards season habitues.”
Grant is joined on his shortlist by fellow Brits Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who won Sunday’s Golden Globe in the same category for his turn in Nocturnal Animals, and Dev Patel, for Lion.
And another Brit, Naomie Harris, is shortlisted for the supporting actress award for her work in Moonlight, alongside Viola Davis (Fences), Nicole Kidman (Lion) and Michelle Williams (Manchester By The Sea).
Disney dominates the animated film category, scoring three of the four nominations with Finding Dory, Moana and Zootropolis.
Kubo and the Two Strings is the only nominee not to have been made by Disney or its subsidiary Pixar.
This year’s nominations were announced by Dominic Cooper and Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner at BAFTA’s central London HQ.
The 2017 BAFTA Film Awards will be held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on February 12, 2017.
View the nominees in full