'La La Land' leads the pack for Bafta film awards

LONDON: Fresh from victory at the Golden Globes, Hollywood musical “La La Land” leads the nominations on Sunday for Britain’s Bafta awards, which are seen as a good indicator for future Oscar triumphs.

Damien Chazelle’s poetic love story has 11 nominations, including best film, best actor for Ryan Gosling and best actress for Emma Stone.

Chazelle, Gosling and Stone are all expected at the ceremony along with a clutch of stars including Amy Adams, Casey Affleck, Emily Blunt and Nicole Kidman.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling will also be there as the spin-off film “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” is nominated for Outstanding British Film.

Sci-fi film “Arrival” and psychological thriller “Nocturnal Animals”, both starring Adams, come second in the nomination ranks with nine each.

READ MORE: ‘La La Land’ wins PGA best film ahead of Oscars

“Manchester by the Sea” is in fourth place with six nominations, including best actor for Affleck.

Veteran leftwing director Ken Loach’s “I, Daniel Blake” — a gritty drama about one man’s struggle against Britain’s social welfare system — leads the pack for British films with five nominations.

Loach, who made a documentary about the opposition Labour party’s leader Jeremy Corbyn last year, first won a Bafta for television drama production in 1967.

Meryl Streep is nominated for best actress for “Florence Foster Jenkins”, a tragi-comedy about a wealthy US socialite and amateur soprano from the 19th century mocked for her terrible singing.

Streep’s scathing condemnation of then president-elect Donald Trump at the Golden Globes last month made international headlines.

READ MORE: ‘La La Land’ leads Oscar nominations with 14 nods

Trump hit back saying she was “overrated”. This is Streep’s 15th Bafta nomination, which puts her on a par with previous record-holder Judi Dench.

British actor Hugh Grant, whose last nomination and award was in 1995 for “Four Weddings and a Funeral”, also gets a supporting actor nod for his role as Streep’s husband and manager in the film.

“The range of films is quite extraordinary,” Amanda Berry, chief executive of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, told the BBC.

“That’s what makes this year’s nominations so intriguing and interesting,” she said.