‘Birdman’ Leads AACTA International Award Nominations

The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) has today announced its International Awards nominations with the Michael Keaton-starring Birdman leading the field with seven total nominations.

A total of 14 films were nominated across seven categories including best film, best direction, best screenplay, best lead actor, best lead actress, best supporting actor and best supporting actress.

Birdman landed seven nominations across six of the categories, only missing the AACTA International Award for best lead actress. Still the film’s stars Emma Stone and Naomi Watts are nominated for best supporting actress for their work in the film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu.

Richard Linklater’s Boyhood and the Benedict Cumberbatch-starring The Imitation Game received five nominations each. They’re both up for awards in the best film, best direction and best screenplay categories. Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash nabbed four nominations, and Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel received three nominations.

Competition for the best actor award is strong, between Hollywood heavyweights Steve Carell (Foxcatcher), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler), Michael Keaton (Birdman) and Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything).

In the best actress category, Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) is up against Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) and Reese Witherspoon (Wild). Australian actress Essie Davis is also nominated for her performance in the Australian film The Babadook. She and Naomi Watts are the only Australians to receive a nomination for this year’s international awards.

The AACTA International Awards are held each year in Los Angeles, coinciding with the annual AACTA Awards in Australia. They are organised by the Australian Film Institute who say they aim to “recognise film excellence regardless of geography”.

“The AACTA International Awards add an Australian voice to the global screen conversation, and allow us to honor the world’s best, including outstanding Australians working on international productions,” AACTA CEO, Damian Trewhella, said in a statement.

For the first time, winners of the 4th AACTA International Awards will be announced in Los Angeles on 31st January 2015 at the G’Day USA Gala and will be broadcast on Foxtel’s Arena on Sunday 1st February 2015. See the full list of AACTA International Award nominations below.