Rocks on top with 7 BAFTA nominations

The 4 nominated films – Rocks, St Maud, Limbo and Ammonite – have all been supported by funding from The National Lottery and supported through development and production by the BFI.

Rocks, which features a group of school students with no previous acting experience, earned a Best Director nomination for Gavron. It was also nominated in the Outstanding British Film category and its writers, Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson, were nominated for Outstanding Debut by a British writer, director or producer.

Ikoko and Wilson were also nominated for Original Screenplay and the film’s young star, Bukky Bukray, is in the running for Leading Actress. Kosar Ali, who plays Bukray’s best friend Sumaya, is nominated for Supporting Actress and Lucy Pardee is nominated in the Casting category.

Other National Lottery-supported films appearing in the nominations list include the psychological horror film, Saint Maud. The tale of a hospice nurse played by Morfydd Clark who becomes obsessed with a former dancer, was also nominated in the prestigious Outstanding British Film category. Saint Maud’s writer and director Rose Glass and its co-producer Oliver Kassman, were jointly nominated for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, director or producer.

Limbo, a film directed by Ben Sharrock, tells the story of Omar, a promising young musician from Syria who is stuck on a remote Scottish island awaiting the result of his asylum request. It was nominated for Outstanding British Film and Sharrock and producer Irune Gurtubai were nominated for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, director or producer.

Meanwhile, Ammonite, a romantic drama loosely inspired by the life of British paleontologist Mary Anning (played by Kate Winslet), earned a Best Costume Design nomination for Michael O’Connor.

Watch an interview with Sarah Gavron about the filming of Rocks.

12th March 2021

Images in order of appearance: Rocks, Saint Maud, Limbo, Ammonite