'Cold Mountain' is the frontrunner in 2004 BAFTA nominations

Anthony Minghella’s American Civil War epic, ‘Cold Mountain’ and Peter Jackson’s final installment in ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ trilogy, ‘The Return Of The King’ lead the list of nominations for the 2004 BAFTA Awards.

‘Cold Mountain’ has received 13 nominations, including ‘Best Film’, ‘Best Director’ and a ‘Best Actor’ nod for star, Jude Law, while ‘The Return Of The King’ has received 12 nominations, also including nods for ‘Best Film’ and ‘Best Director’.

The other major contenders in this year’s awards are ‘Girl With The Pearl Earring’ (10 nominations, including ‘Best British Film’), Peter Weir’s naval epic ‘Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World’ (8 nominations, including ‘Best Film’ and ‘Best Director’), Sofia Coppola’s indie favourite, ‘Lost In Translation (8 nominations, also including ‘Best Film’ and ‘Best Director’) Tim Burton’s surrealistic fairytale ‘Big Fish’ (7 nominations, including ‘Best Director’).

The frontrunners in the ‘Best Actor’ and ‘Best Actress’ categories are Sean Penn and Scarlett Johansson, who have both received two nominations each – Penn for his roles in ’21 Grams’ and ‘Mystic River’ and Johansson for her performances in ‘Girl With The Pearl Earring’ and ‘Lost In Translation’. Penn will face stiff competition from Bill Murray, who has received rave reviews for his performance in ‘Lost In Translation’, Jude Law for his role in ‘Cold Mountain and his ’21 Grams’ co-star, Benicio Del Toro. Johansson will also face some tough competition, from British actress Anne Reid (‘The Mother’), Naomi Watts (’21 Grams) and Uma Thurman (‘Kill Bill Vol. 1’).

A number of Britain’s best-loved actors are nominated in the ‘Best Supporting Actor ‘ and ‘Actress’ categories. Albert Finney (‘Big Fish’), Bill Nighy (‘Love Actually’). Sir Ian McKellen (‘The Return Of The King’) and Paul Bettany (‘Master And Commander’) are all nominated in the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ category, leaving Tim Robbins (‘Mystic River’) as the token American nominee, while Emma Thompson has been nominated for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for ‘Love Actually’, competing alongside Holly Hunter (‘Thirteen’), Judy Parfitt (‘Girl With The Pearl Earring’), Laura Linney (‘Mystic River’) and Renee Zellweger (‘Cold Mountain’).

The BAFTA Awards have been taken more seriously by Hollywood ever since the ceremony date was moved in 2001, so that the event took place before the Oscars, instead of afterwards.

The ceremony now attracts some of the biggest names in the movie world.

(KMcA)