Robbie Williams biopic Better Man saw artists take responsibility for nearly all of the film’s visual effects, with 226 different costumes and 50 different hairstyles from Williams’ life recreated digitally for a motion capture chimpanzee.
Other talented staff also received recognition for their work on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which is set generations after the reign of titular character Caesar from the original Planet of the Apes.
Wētā FX was responsible for all of the film’s visual effects, which included a cast of digital ape characters as well as large digital water simulations and environments.
The team from Better Man consisted of Luke Millar, David Clayton, and Keith Herft, while those up for their work on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes are Erik Winquist, Paul Story, Stephen Unterfranz.
“We are incredibly proud of our teams’ work and are delighted to see their commitment, innovative thinking, and creativity recognised on the global stage by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts,” David Wright, interim chief executive of Wētā FX said.
Bafta frontrunner Conclave – which stars Ralph Fiennes as a clergyman responsible for the selection of the next Pope of the Catholic Church – has nominations in the major categories, including Best Film, Best Actor for Fiennes, Best Director for Edward Berger and Best Supporting Actress for Isabella Rossellini.
As well as Conclave, the other Best Film nominees are Anora, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown and Emilia Perez.
Fiennes faces competition in the Best Actor category from Adrien Brody for The Brutalist, Timothee Chalamet for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, Colman Domingo for Sing Sing, Hugh Grant in Heretic and Sebastian Stan for playing Donald Trump in The Apprentice.
To be crowned Best Supporting Actress, Rossellini must beat Jamie Lee Curtis (The Last Showgirl), Selena Gomez (Emilia Perez), Ariana Grande (Wicked), Felicity Jones (The Brutalist) and Zoe Saldana (Emilia Perez).
Hot on the heels of Conclave is French Spanish-language crime-musical Emilia Perez, which received a total of 11 nominations.
Epic musical Wicked – which is the unofficial prequel to The Wizard of Oz and an adaptation of the smash hit Broadway musical – has received a total of eight nominations, including Best Actress for Cynthia Erivio, Best Supporting actress for Ariana and Best Sound.
Cynthia – who stars as Elphaba in the musical – will go up against Karla Sofia Gascon for Emilia Perez, Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Hard Truths, Mikey Madison for Anora, Demi Moore for The Substance and Saoirse Ronan for The Outrun.
In the Outstanding British Film category, 10 films have received a nomination; Bird, Blitz, Conclave, Hard Truths, Kneecap, Lee, Love Lies Bleeding, The Outrun, Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and epic Rome era sequel Gladiator II, which was directed by Sir Ridley Scott.
The British Academy Film Awards winners will be announced at a ceremony held at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London on Sunday, February 16.
The 2025 Bafta Awards will be held on Monday 17 February (NZT).
Best Director:
Anora, Sean Baker
The Brutalist, Brady Corbet
Conclave, Edward Berger
Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve
Emilia Perez, Jacques Audiard
The Substance, Coralie Fargeat
Best Original Screenplay:
Anora
The Brutalist
Kneecap
A Real Pain
The Substance
Best Adapted Screenplay:
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Emilia Perez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing
Best Leading Actress:
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofia Gascon, Emilia Perez
Best Leading Actor:
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothee Chalamet, ‘A Complete Unknown’
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Hugh Grant, Heretic
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice
Best Supporting Actress:
Selena Gomez, Emilia Perez
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Jamie Lee Curtis, The Last Showgirl
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Zoe Saldana, Emilia Perez
Best Film:
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Emilia Perez
Outstanding British Film:
Bird
Blitz
Conclave
Gladiator II
Hard Truths
Kneecap
Lee
Love Lies Bleeding
The Outrun
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer:
Hoard, Luna Carmoon (director, writer)
Kneecap, Rich Peppiatt (director, writer)
Monkey Man, Dev Patel (director)
Santosh, Sandhya Suri (director, writer), James Bowsher (producer), Balthazar De Ganay (producer) [also produced by Alan McAlex, Mike Goodridge]
Sister Midnight, Karan Kandhari (director, writer)
Best Film Not in the English Language:
All We Imagine As Light
Emilia Perez
I’m Still Here
Kneecap
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Best Documentary:
Black Box Diaries
Daughters
No Other Land
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Will and Harper
Best Animated Film:
Flow
Inside Out 2
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
Best Children’s and Family Film:
Flow
Kensuke’s Kingdom
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
Best Director:
Anora, Sean Baker
The Brutalist, Brady Corbet
‘Conclave’, Edward Berger
Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve
Emilia Perez, Jacques Audiard
The Substance, Coralie Fargea
Best Supporting Actor:
Yura Borisov, Anora
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Clarence Maclin, Sing Sing
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice
Best Casting:
Anora
The Apprentice
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Kneecap
Best Cinematography:
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Perez
Nosferatu
Best Editing:
Anora
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Perez
Kneecap
Best Costume Design:
Blitz
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Nosferatu
Wicked
Best Make-up and Hair:
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Perez
Nosferatu
The Substance
Wicked
Best Original Score:
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Perez
Nosferatu
The Wild Robot
Best Production Design:
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked
Best Sound:
Blitz
Dune: Part Two
Gladiator II
The Substance
Wicked
Best Special Visual Effects:
Better Man
Dune: Part Two
Gladiator II
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Wicked
Best British Short Animation:
Adios
Mog’s Christmas
Wander to Wonder
Best British Short Film:
The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing
Marion
Milk
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Stomach Bug
Rising Star Award (voted for by the public):
Marisa Abela
Jharrel Jerome
David Jonsson
Mikey Madison
Nabhaan Rizwan
– Additional reporting by NZHerald
