Lincoln leads BAFTA and Oscar nominations

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Awards season is now in full swing, with Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln receiving the most Oscar and BAFTA nominations last week. The American Civil War epic is up for twelve Oscars and ten BAFTAs, beating the likes of hot contenders Les Misérables and Life of Pi.

The film is shortlisted in both Best Film and Best Actor categories; with Daniel Day-Lewis - who initially turned down the role - playing the 16th American president. Steven Spielberg is also nominated in the Best Director category at the Oscars, but failed to get a BAFTA nod in the same category.   

Tom Hooper’s Les Misérables – co-produced by Working Title Films - received the second most BAFTAs, totalling nine, and received eight from the Academy, whilst Skyfall is up for eight BAFTAs. Despite missing out in the major Oscar categories, the 23rd instalment in the Bond franchise will compete for Original Score, Cinematography, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing.

Ang Lee’s Booker winner adaptation Life of Pi is also up for nine BAFTAs, and followed Lincoln with the second most number of Oscar nods, notching up eleven, including Best Picture and Best Director.

It was good news for another Working Title production, Anna Karenina, as the film picked up six BAFTA and four Oscar nominations. The film, directed by Joe Wright, stars Keira Knightley in the title role and is based on Leo Tolstoy's 1877 novel.

Other films competing in Best Film categories at both awards include actor/director Ben Affleck’s Argo; Zero Dark Thirty - Kathryn Bigelow’s film about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden; and surprise contender Silver Linings Playbook, starring Bradley Cooper, who is also nominated in both Best Actor categories.   

Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie, filmed at 3 Mills Studios, was included in both Best Animation categories alongside Brave and ParaNorman.

Debra Hayward, the British producer of Les Misérables, gave her reaction to the film’s Oscar nominations: "I'm absolutely over the moon, I'm still pinching myself. I'm in LA, and bizarrely I woke up knowing it was going to happen after 5am and I woke up just before then. I was sitting in my bed channel surfing to find CNN and just sat and watched it unfold. It was quite surreal listening to it being read out. It’s magic.”

The BAFTAs will take place on 10 February at the Royal Opera House, London, produced by Whizz Kid Entertainment. For the full list of nominations, click here

The Oscars will take place on 24 February in Beverly Hills. For the full list of nominations, click here

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