BAFTA Bows To ""Beauty""
DreamWorks Picture Leads British Academy's Nominations With 14 By Adam Dawtrey, Daily Variety
""American Beauty,"" directed by hometown boy Sam Mendes, has emerged as the clear leader in the contest for this yearís British Academy Film Awards, scooping 14 nominations. The DreamWorks picture has been nominated in every category for which it is eligible, apart from costume design. Its nearest rival is Neil Jordanís ""The End of the Affair,"" with 10 nods, followed by Anthony Minghellaís ""The Talented Mr. Ripley"" with seven. Those three films will contest the award for best film along with M. Night Shyamalanís ""The Sixth Sense"" and Damien OíDonnellís ""East Is East."" Mendes, Jordan, Minghella and Shyamalan are also tussling over the David Lean Award for best director, with Pedro Almodovar the fifth runner in that category for ""All About My Mother."" Sticking Close To Home As usual, BAFTA members have gone out of their way to honor British talent, both for work in Hollywood movies and in local pictures. ""East Is East,"" with six nominations, and Mike Leighís ""Topsy-Turvy,"" with five, were the most successful British films last year. Jim Broadbent, Ralph Fiennes, Om Puri, Emily Watson, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, Jude Law, Michael Caine and Rhys Ifans are all up for acting awards. Vying for the Alexander Korda Award for the outstanding British film of the year are ""East Is East,"" ""Notting Hill,"" ""Onegin,"" ""Ratcatcher,"" ""Topsy-Turvy"" and ""Wonderland."" A few high-profile American movies suffered from the fact that, although eligible for this yearís BAFTAs, they have not yet been released in the UK, and so have not been seen by many voters. ""The Cider House Rules"" and ""The Insider"" managed nonetheless to sneak in one acting nomination each, but ""Magnolia"" was completely shut out. Also ignored were OscarÆ contender ""The Green Mile,"" which has just been released in the U.K. to indifferent reviews; and ""Toy Story 2,"" which British critics loved and which is breaking local box office records. Oddly, the Pixar picture was even shut out of the special visual effects category, although the companyís previous ""A Bugís Life"" did make it in. The nominees were announced by actress Joely Richardson and Tim Angel, Chairman of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, at BAFTAís Picadilly, London headquarters. The winners will be named April 9, 2000 at the Odeon Leicester Square, Londonís flagship cinema. The mobile phone company Orange has announced a new three-year sponsorship deal for the ceremony, which has been officially renamed the Orange British Academy Film Awards. Once again, Orange is sponsoring a special Audience Award, in which the public gets a chance to vote for their favorite film from the top 10 pictures at the UK box office over the past year. The Full List Of Nominees For The 1999 (Sic) Orange British Academy Film Awards Film ""American Beauty"" - Bruce Cohen/Dan Jinks ""East Is East"" - Leslee Udwin ""The End of the Affair"" - Stephen Woolley/Neil Jordan ""The Sixth Sense"" - Frank Marshall/Kathleen Kennedy/Barry Mendel ""The Talented Mr. Ripley"" - William Horberg/Tom Sternberg The David Lean Award for achievement in Direction ""All About My Mother"" - Pedro Almodovar ""American Beauty"" - Sam Mendes ""The End of the Affair"" - Neil Jordan ""The Sixth Sense"" - M. Night Shyamalan ""The Talented Mr. Ripley"" - Anthony Minghella The Alexander Korda Award for outstanding British film of the year ""East Is East"" - Leslee Udwin/Damien OíDonnell ""Notting Hill"" - Duncan Kenworthy/Roger Michell ""Onegin"" - Ileen Maisel/Simon Bosanquet/Martha Fiennes ""Ratcatcher"" - Gavin Emerson/Lynne Ramsay ""Topsy-Turvy"" - Simon Channing Williams/Mike Leigh ""Wonderland"" - Michele Camarda/Andrew Eaton/Michael Winterbottom Original Screenplay ""All About My Mother"" - Pedro Almodovar ""American Beauty"" - Alan Ball ""Being John Malkovich"" - Charlie Kaufman ""The Sixth Sense"" - M. Night Shyamalan ""Topsy-Turvy"" - Mike Leigh Adapted Screenplay ""An Ideal Husband"" - Oliver Parker ""East Is East"" - Ayub Kahn Din ""The End of the Affair"" - Neil Jordan ""The Talented Mr. Ripley"" - Anthony Minghella Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Linda Bassett - ""East Is East"" Annette Bening - ""American Beauty"" Julianne Moore - ""The End of the Affair"" Emily Watson - ""Angelaís Ashes"" Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Jim Broadbent - ""Topsy-Turvy"" Russell Crowe - ""The Insider"" Ralph Fiennes - ""The End of the Affair"" Om Puri - ""East Is East"" Kevin Spacey - ""American Beauty"" Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Thora Birch - ""American Beauty"" Cate Blanchett - ""The Talented Mr. Ripley"" Cameron Diaz - ""Being John Malkovich"" Maggie Smith - ""Tea With Mussolini"" Mena Suvari - ""American Beauty"" Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Wes Bentley - ""American Beauty"" Michael Caine - ""Cider House Rules"" Rhys Ifans - ""Notting Hill"" Jude Law - ""The Talented Mr. Ripley"" Timothy Spall - ""Topsy-Turvy"" The Anthony Asquith Award for achievement in Film Music ""American Beauty"" - Thomas Newman ""Buena Vista Social Club"" - Ry Cooder/Nick Gold ""The End of the Affair"" - Michael Nyman ""The Talented Mr. Ripley"" - Gabriel Yared Film not in the English language ""All About My Mother"" - Agustin Almodovar/Pedro Almodovar ""Buena Vista Social Club"" - Ulrich Felsberg/Deepak Nayar/Wim Wenders ""Festen"" - Brigitte Hald/Thomas Vinterberg ""Run Lola Run"" - Stefan Arndt/Tom Tykwer Cinematography ""American Beauty"" - Conrad Hall ""Angelaís Ashes"" - Michael Seresin ""The End of the Affair"" - Roger Pratt ""The Matrix"" - Bill Pope ""The Talented Mr. Ripley"" - John Seale Production Design ""American Beauty"" - Naomi Shohan ""Angelaís Ashes"" - Geoffrey Kirkland ""The End of the Affair"" - Anthony Pratt ""The Matrix"" - Owen Paterson ""Sleepy Hollow"" - Rick Heinrichs Costume Design ""An Ideal Husband"" - Caroline Harris ""The End of the Affair"" - Sandy Powell ""Sleepy Hollow"" - Colleen Atwood ""Tea With Mussolini"" - Jenny Beavan/Anna Anni/Alberto Spiazzi Editing ""American Beauty"" - Tariq Anwar/Christopher Greenbury ""Being John Malkovich"" - Eric Zumbrunnen ""The Matrix"" - Zach Staenberg ""The Sixth Sense"" - Andrew Mondshein Sound ""American Beauty"" ""Buena Vista Social Club"" ""The Matrix"" ""Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace"" Achievement in Visual Special Effects ""A Bugís Life"" ""The Matrix"" ""The Mummy"" ""Sleepy Hollow"" ""Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace"" Make Up/Hair ""American Beauty"" - Tania McComas/Carol A. OíConnell ""An Ideal Husband"" - Peter King ""The End of the Affair"" - Christine Beveridge ""Topsy-Turvy"" - Christine Blundell Short Animation ""Jolly Roger"" - Claire Jennings/Mark Baker/Neville Astley ""The Old Man With The Beautiful Eyes"" - Jonathan Bairstow/Jonathan Hodgson ""The Old Man And The Sea"" - Bernard LaJoie/Tatsuo Shimamura/Alexander Petrov ""The Periwig-Maker"" - Annette Shaffler/Steffen Schaffler Short Film ""Bait"" - Soul Gatti-Pascual/Tom Shankland/Jane Harris ""Perdie"" - Rachel Shadick/Faye Gilbert ""The Tale of the Rat That Wrote"" - Ruth Kenley-Letts/Lisa-Marie Russo/Billy OíBrien ""Whoís My Favorite Girl"" - Joern Utkilen/Kara Johnston/Adrian McDowall Carl Foreman Award for the Most Promising Newcomer in British Film Justin Kerrigan (Director, ""Human Traffic"") Ayub Khan Din (Writer, ""East Is East"") Kirk Jones (Director, ""Waking Ned"") Lynne Ramsay (Director, ""Ratcatcher"") Orange Audience Award ""A Bugís Life"" ""Austin Powers - The Spy Who Shagged Me"" ""Notting Hill"" ""Star Wars Episode One - The Phantom Menace"" ""Tarzan"" ""The Matrix"" ""The Mummy"" ""The Sixth Sense"" ""The World Is Not Enough"" ""Toy Story 2""