The 2022 BAFTA nominations are in — and Jane Campion’s western “The Power of the Dog” has received an impressive eight in total. It’s the only woman-directed film to earn a Best Film nod, but Campion is joined in the Best Director category by fellow female nominees Audrey Diwan, with French abortion drama “Happening,” and Palme d’Or winner Julia Ducournau (“Titane”).
Women filmmakers are also well represented in the Best Documentary category: Andrea Arnold, who turned her camera to bovine subjects (“Cow”); Liz Garbus’ portrait of the famous explorer, “Becoming Costeau”; and Elizabeth Chai’s thrilling chronicle of the 2018 rescue of 12 boys and their coach from a flooded cave (“The Rescue”) all received nods.
Clio Barnard (“Ali & Ava,” a contemporary love story) and Rebecca Hall (“Passing,” adapted from Nella Larsen’s novel about racial identity) are both in the running in the Outstanding British Film category, with Hall also receiving a nod in the Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer category, alongside Posy Dixon and Liv Proctor for “Keyboard Fantasies,” and Hester Ruoff, a producer on “Boiling Point.”
Elsewhere, three of the five titles up for Adapted Screenplay were penned by women: Campion is joined by Maggie Gyllenhaal and Siân Heder — the former for her mother-daughter relationship drama “The Lost Daughter,” and Heder for Sundance hit “CODA,” a coming-of-age tale focused on a girl who is the only hearing person in her Deaf family. Disappointingly, women were completely shut out of the Original Screenplay category.
“CODA’s” Emilia Jones and “Passing’s” Tessa Thompson are in the race for Best Actress, while the Supporting Actress category sees Ariana Debose (“West Side Story”), Aunjanue Ellis (“King Richard”), and Ruth Negga (“Passing”) all earn a nod. Much has been made of the lack of diversity in previous years’ nominations lists, with BAFTA taking steps to introduce change after 2020 saw no actors of color nominated in any of the four major performer categories.
Úna Ní Dhonghaíle is the lone woman nominated in the Editing category (“Belfast”), as is Céline Sciamma (“Petite Maman”) among the Film Not In the English Language nominees.
The 2022 BAFTAs will be held Sunday, March 13. You can find more info about the rest of this year’s nominees over at The Hollywood Reporter.