Baftas 2020: Syrian documentary 'For Sama' scores four nominations

For Sama , a Syrian documentary shot over five years from inside besieged Aleppo , has received four nominations for this year's EE British Academy Film Awards. The film has been nominated in four categories: Documentary, Outstanding British Film, Film Not in English Language and Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. The nominations continue a golden run for the film , which was awarded the Prix L'Oeil d'Or for Best Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019. It also took home four trophies at the British Independent Film Awards in December , including the award for best British Independent Film. For Sama , made by Emmy award-winning filmmakers Waad Al Kateab and Edward Watts, follows the intimate and epic journey of Al Kateab through five years of her life in the rebel-held city as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to her first daughter, Sama. The film was constructed using footage entirely drawn from Al Kateab’s extraordinary archive. Al Kateab began filming using a mobile phone after it became clear the peaceful protests she was taking part in with fellow students from the University of Aleppo were being denied by the regime. She told The National in May that her footage was "very big evidence that the people who are there are Syrians and not, as the regime was saying, all strangers and terrorists". Last month, British actress Emilia Clarke showed her support for the documentary, asking fans to watch the film. Joker leads this year's nominations with 11, followed by the Netflix crime-drama The Irishman and Quentin Tarantino's ode to 1970s Los Angeles, Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood, both of which received 10 nominations. All three films are in contention for the Best Film award, along with First World War epic 1917 and South Korean hit and Golden Globe winner Parasite. Joaquin Phoenix is in the running for Best Actor award for his portrayal of the Joker. He will be competing against Taro Egerton, who played Sir Elton John in Rocketman , Jonathan Pryce who starred in The Two Popes, Leonardo DiCaprio for his work in Once Upon a Time… and Adam Driver for his role in the Netflix drama Marriage Story . Margot Robbie is competing against herself after she received two nominations in the Best Supporting Actress category for her roles in Bombshell and Once Upon a Time… and Scarlett Johansson also has two nominations, one for Jojo Rabbit in the same category, and another for Best Actress for her role in Marriage Story. Other Best Actress nominees include Renee Zellweger for Judy, Jessie Buckley for Wild Rose, Charlize Theron for Bombshell , and Saoirse Ronan for Little Women. Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) is in the running for the British Short Film award. The 40-minute documentary follows the story of young Afghan girls as they learn to read, write and skateboard in Kabul over the course of a school year. The film won the IDA (International Documentary Association) award for best short documentary and has been shortlisted for this year's Oscars. The awards ceremony, which will take place on Sunday, February 2, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, will be hosted by Irish comedian and television presenter Graham Norton. 1917 The Irishman Joker Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood Parasite 1917 Bait For Sama Rocketman Sorry We Missed You The Two Popes Bait, Mark Jenkin (writer/director), Kate Byers, Linn Waite (producers) For Sama, Waad Al Kateab (director/producer), Edward Watts (director) Maiden, Alex Holmes (director) Only You, Harry Wootliff (writer/director) Retablo, Alvaro Delgado-Aparicio (writer/director) The Farewell For Sama Pain and Glory Parasite Portrait of a Lady on Fire American Factory Apollo 11 Diego Maradona For Sama The Great Hack Frozen II Klaus A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon Toy Story 4 Sam Mendes for 1917 Martin Scorsese for The Irishman Todd Phillips for Joker Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood Bong Joon-ho for Parasite Booksmart, Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Katie Silberman Knives Out, Rian Johnson Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino Parasite, Han Jin Won, Bong Joon-ho, The Irishman , Steven Zaillian Jojo Rabbit , Taika Waititi Joker , Todd Phillips, Scott Silver Little Women , Greta Gerwig The Two Popes , Anthony McCarten Jessie Buckley for Wild Rose Scarlett Johansson for Marriage Story Saoirse Ronan for Little Women Charlize Theron for Bombshell Renee Zellweger for Judy Leonardo DiCaprio for Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood Adam Driver for Marriage Story Taron Egerton for Rocketman Joaquin Phoenix for Joker Jonathan Pryce for The Two Popes Laura Dern for Marriage Story Scarlett Johansson for Jojo Rabbit Florence Pugh for Little Women Margot Robbie for Bombshell Margot Robbie for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Tom Hanks for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Anthony Hopkins for The Two Popes Al Pacino for The Irishman Joe Pesci for The Irishman Brad Pitt for Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood 1917 Jojo Rabbit Joker Little Women Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Joker Marriage Story Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood The Personal History of David Copperfield The Two Popes 1917 The Irishman Joker Le Mans ’66 The Lighthouse The Irishman Jojo Rabbit Joker Le Mans ’66 Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood 1917 The Irishman Jojo Rabbit Joker Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood The Irishman Jojo Rabbit Judy Little Women Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood 1917 Bombshell Joker Judy Rocketman 1917 Joker Le Mans ’66 Rocketman Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 1917 Avengers: Endgame The Irishman The Lion King Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Grandad Was a Romantic In Her Boots The Magic Boat Azaar Goldfish Kamali Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) The Trap Awkwafina Jack Lowden Kaitlyn Dever Kelvin Harrison Jr Micheal Ward Kathleen Kennedy

Baftas 2020: Syrian documentary 'For Sama' scores four nominations

The film won the Prix L’Oeil d’Or for Best Documentary at last year's Cannes Film Festival