British Academy Film Award Nominations Are Announced

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts announced the nominations today for the 2018 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA).

The BAFTAs have three categories that are animation-related: animated feature, British short animation, and special visual effects.

In the feature category, the three nominees were Disney-Pixar’s Coco, Breakthru Films/Trademark Films’ Loving Vincent, and Rita Productions’ My Life as a Zucchini. The category is worth watching because unlike some other film awards, the BAFTAs do not rubber-stamp a Walt Disney Company animated feature as the winner every year. Last year, the BAFTAs recognized Kubo and the Two Strings as the best animated film, while The Lego Movie won the category in 2015.

The three nominees in the British short animation category are:

Have Heart by Will Anderson

Mamoon by Ben Steer

Poles Apart by Paloma Baeza

In the special visual effects category, five films were nominated:

• Blade Runner 2049
• Dunkirk
• The Shape of Water
• Star Wars: The Last Jedi
• War for the Planet of the Apes

Also notable, Paddington 2, a film whose lead is a cg-animated character, was nominated in the British film and adapted screenplay categories. The film, which received rave reviews in the U.K., is due to open in the United States this Friday.

The BAFTA Awards will be presented on Sunday, February 18, at the Royal Albert Hall in London.