In a year when we will probably not see a female director nominated for any major awards here in the US, the Brits have been smart enough to recognize the Lynne Ramsay did do one of the best directing jobs of the year and nominated her for best director and We Need to Talk About Kevin for Best British Film.
Keep in mind there are two major film categories — best film and best British film — but only one major directing category and Ramsay was included alongside Golden Globe winner Martin Scorsese.
Sarah Smith also got a best director nomination for Arthur Christmas in the animated category.
Women got nods in the original screenplay category and adapted screenplay category with Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig getting a nomination for Bridesmaids and Abi Morgan receiving one for The Iron Lady. Bridget O’Connor was nominated as the co-writer of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy.
This year is still a big disappointment with women being left out of many of the major categories including: film; documentary; film not in an English language; original music; cinematography; special visual effects and of course the Rising Star Award (which was written about here last week.)
List of other female nominees
LEADING ACTRESS
BÉRÉNICE BEJO The Artist
MERYL STREEP The Iron Lady
MICHELLE WILLIAMS My Week with Marilyn
TILDA SWINTON We Need to Talk About Kevin
VIOLA DAVIS The Help
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
CAREY MULLIGAN Drive
JESSICA CHASTAIN The Help
JUDI DENCH My Week with Marilyn
MELISSA MCCARTHY Bridesmaids
OCTAVIA SPENCER The Help
EDITING
THE ARTIST Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
HUGO Thelma Schoonmaker
PRODUCTION DESIGN
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS — PART 2 Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
HUGO Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana MacDonald
COSTUME DESIGN
HUGO Sandy Powell
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Jill Taylor
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY Jacqueline Durran
MAKE UP & HAIR
THE ARTIST Julie Hewett, Cydney Cornell
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS — PART 2 Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
HUGO Morag Ross, Jan Archibald
THE IRON LADY Marese Langan
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN Jenny Shircore
SOUND
THE ARTIST Nadine Muse, Gérard Lamps, Michael Krikorian
Baftas 2012 shortlist: the full list of nominations (The Guardian)