Trans movie Emilia Pérez leads BAFTA longlist with nods in 15 categories – including best film

A Spanish-language movie about a transgender woman, Emilia Pérez, has received more nods than any other 2024 film in the BAFTA longlist, which was unveiled today (3 January).

Out of a total 25 categories, Emilia Pérez has been placed on the longlist to be nominated in 15 of them, including best film, director, leading actress and three in the supporting actress list, Variety reports.

Papal thriller Conclave received the second-highest number of nods for a single film: 14 in total.

Emilia Pérez – which is a musical – follows the story of Mexico City lawyer Rita (Zoe Saldaña) who is hired by cartel leader Manitas (Karla Sofia Gascón) with the unusual request to help Manitas flee Mexico with her children and wife, Jessi (Selena Gomez) in order to seek gender affirming surgery so she can live as a woman.

In the process, Perez sets up an NGO to support the families of cartel victims in order to ease her own guilt, and finds love with Epifanía (Adriana Paz), whose abusive husband’s remains were identified by the charity.

In November 2024, Gascón, who is trans, spoke to PinkNews about how she approached the role of Emilia Pérez. “I really immersed myself in the character to the point that my personal stability became a bit at risk,” she said, through a translator. “I got so lost in my character that I started to lose sight of where I stopped and my character began.”

Other LGBTQ+ films that have received BAFTA longlist nods are sapphic bodybuilding romance thriller Love Lies Bleeding (Outstanding British Film), tear-jerking and hilarious trans road trip documentary Will & Harper, and also Daniel Craig has received a Best Leading Actor nod for his role in Luca Guadagnino’s Queer.

The full BAFTA longlist is as follows:

BEST FILM
Anora
The Apprentice
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez”
Kneecap
The Substance
Wicked

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
Back to Black
Bird
Blitz
Civil War
Conclave
Gladiator II
Hard Truths
Kneecap
Lee
Love Lies Bleeding
The Outrun
Paddington in Peru
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
We Live in Time
Wicked Little Letters

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
Bring Them Down
Grand Theft Hamlet
Hoard
Kneecap
Monkey Man
On Falling
Santosh
Sister Midnight
The Taste of Mango
The Teacher

CHILDREN’S AND FAMILY FILM
Flow
Kensuke’s Kingdom
Piece by Piece
Spellbound
That Christmas
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
Young Woman and the Sea

FILM NOT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
All We Imagine as Light
Black Dog (Gou zhen)
The Count of Monte Cristo
Emilia Pérez
Flow
The Girl With the Needle
I’m Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui)
Kneecap
La Chimera
The Seed of the Sacred Fig

DOCUMENTARY
The Bibi Files
Black Box Diaries
Daughters
Elton John: Never Too Late
I Am: Celine Dion
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger
No Other Land
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
Will & Harper

ANIMATED FILM
Despicable Me 4
Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Moana 2
That Christmas
Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot

DIRECTOR
All We Imagine as Light, Payal Kapadia
Anora, Sean Baker
The Brutalist, Brady Corbet
Conclave, Edward Berger
Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve
Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard
La Chimera, Alice Rohrwacher
Lee, Ellen Kuras
The Outrun, Nora Fingscheidt
The Substance, Coralie Fargeat

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
All We Imagine as Light
Anora
The Apprentice
The Brutalist
Challengers
Civil War
Heretic
Kneecap
A Real Pain
The Substance

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Lee
Nickel Boys
Nightbitch
The Outrun
Sing Sing
Wicked

LEADING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, Nightbitch
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Demi Moore, The Substance
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Kate Winslet, Lee
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths
Marisa Abela, Back to Black
Mikey Madison, Anora
Nicole Kidman, Babygirl
Saoirse Ronan, The Outrun

LEADING ACTOR
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Daniel Craig, Queer
Dev Patel, Monkey Man
Hugh Grant, Heretic
Jude Law, Firebrand
Kingsley Ben Adir, Bob Marley: One Love
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Adriana Paz, Emilia Pérez
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Emily Watson, Small Things Like These
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Jamie Lee Curtis, The Last Showgirl
Margaret Qualley, The Substance
Michele Austin, Hard Truths
Selena Gomez, Emilia Pérez
Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Clarence Maclin, Sing Sing
Denzel Washington, Gladiator II
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Harris Dickinson, Babygirl
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Mark Eydelshteyn, Anora
Stanley Tucci, Conclave
Yura Borisov, Anora

CASTING
Anora
The Apprentice
Back to Black
Blitz
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Kneecap
Wicked

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Anora
The Brutalist
Civil War
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Gladiator II
Nosferatu
The Substance

COSTUME DESIGN
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
Blitz
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Gladiator II
Nosferatu
Wicked

EDITING
Anora
Challengers
Civil War
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Gladiator II
Kneecap
The Substance

MAKE-UP AND HAIR
The Apprentice
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
Blitz
A Complete Unknown
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Joker: Folie À Deux
Nosferatu
The Substance
Wicked

ORIGINAL SCORE
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
Blitz
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Gladiator II
Nosferatu
The Outrun
The Substance
The Wild Robot

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
Blitz
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Gladiator II
Nosferatu
The Substance
Wicked

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Alien: Romulus
Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice
Better Man
Civil War
Deadpool & Wolverine
Dune: Part Two
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Gladiator II
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Wicked

SOUND
Blitz
The Brutalist
Civil War
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Gladiator II
The Substance
Wicked

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
Adiós
Mee and Burd
Mog’s Christmas
Plunge
Three Hares
Wander to Wonder

BRITISH SHORT FILM
The Ban
Clodagh
The Flowers Stand Silently, Witnessing
Homework
Marion
Milk
Rock, Paper, Scissors
Sister Wives
Stomach Bug
Woodlice

The final list of nominations will be announced on 15 January, and the BAFTA awards ceremony will take place on 16 February, hosted by Doctor Who star (and huge LGBTQ+ ally) David Tennant for the second year running.