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Denis Villeneuve’s Dune leads BAFTA nominations

By Victoria Ahearn
February 4, 2022
The adaptation of Frank Herbert's sci-fi novel is up for 11 trophies at the awards show, which also has several other nominees with Canadian ties.

Quebec director Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic Dune continues to pick up steam ahead of next week’s Oscar nominations, this time as a leading contender for the 75th British Academy Film Awards.

The sweeping feature adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 sci-fi novel is up for 11 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) trophies, making it the top feature film nominee. Villeneuve directed and co-produced the interstellar story of warring families, and co-wrote it with Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth. Dune is nominated for BAFTAs including best adapted screenplay and best production design for Montreal’s Patrice Vermette alongside Zsuzsanna Sipos.

Dune is also up for best film, a category that also includes Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog, produced by veteran Canadian producer Roger Frappier, along with Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman and Iain Canning. The Power of the Dog has eight BAFTA nominations in total.

Also up for best film is Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza, co-produced by Burnaby, B.C.’s Bron Creative, which has five BAFTA nominations in total.

Other BAFTA nominees with Canadian ties include Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, which is up for three awards and was produced by J. Miles Dale of Toronto, where the drama was also filmed. Landing one nomination was Alberta-shot Ghostbusters: Afterlife, directed by Montreal-born Jason Reitman and produced by his Toronto-raised filmmaker father, Ivan Reitman. Ottawa-raised Ghostbusters star Dan Aykroyd is also one of the executive producers.

The BAFTAs will take place March 13 and are considered a bellwether heading into the Academy Award nominations, set for Tuesday, Feb. 8. Dune, The Power of the Dog and Nightmare Alley have earned numerous other awards nominations in recent weeks. The Power of the Dog won three Golden Globes, including best picture and best director, while Dune won for best original score for Hans Zimmer.

Photo credit: British Academy of Film and Television Arts; nominations for the 2022 British Academy Film Awards announced Feb. 3, 2022