Feb 3, 2022

2022 BAFTA candidates: "Raya" is snubbed, "Run Away" wins Nom for animation and documentary

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has unveiled the nominees for the 75th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), the U.K.'s equivalent of the Oscars.

No one who has been following awards this year will be too surprised at the nominees for best animated feature. Disney's Encanto and Disney-Pixar's Luca are nominated, as is Netflix/Sony's The Mitchells vs. the Machines and European documentary drama Flee. All these films have won or been nominated many times elsewhere, with Encanto winning the Golden Globe and Mitchells and Flee proving especially popular with critics.

The BAFTAs typically nominate only three films in this category, but the rules allow up to five - the decision is made “at the discretion of the Film Committee and dependent on number of entries.” So there was officially space for another nominee, which means the omission of Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon, the most nominated film at the Annies this year, is notable.

Flee has pulled off the distinction of also being nominated for best documentary. It had also been longlisted for “best film not in the English language,” but failed to be nominated there. The film is still in the running for the three equivalent awards at the Oscars, and would make history if nominated for all of them.

The BAFTAs' animated short category generally throws up interesting, relatively unhyped nominees, restricted as it is to films with “significant creative involvement” from Brits. This year sees one heavyweight in contention: Joanna Quinn and Les Mills's NFB co-production Affairs of the Art, which has already earned awards and plaudits aplenty.

The other two nominees are stop-motion student films from the National Film and Television School, Antonin Niclass's Do Not Feed the Pigeons and Ida Melum's Night of the Living Dread (which was also shortlisted for a student BAFTA). The NFTS is one of the U.K.'s most famous animation schools, and a favorite of the BAFTAs: two of its shorts were nominated last year, too.

For the first time this year, qualifying shorts had to meet the BFI Diversity Standards, which aim to boost diversity in film production. The requirement had previously been put in place for certain other British film categories at the awards.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony at London's Royal Albert Hall on March 13. Here is the full list of nominees in the animation and vfx categories: