‘Blue Story’ leads the nominations for the 6th 6th annual National Film Awards UK with 12 nods.
The tragic tale – which based on director Andrew Onwubolu’s personal experiences growing up in south east London – has received the most nominations from the National Film Academy for this year’s award ceremony, which is set to take place on March 20.
Andrew – professionally known as Rapman – is in the running for Best Newcomer and Best Director against ‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’s Chiwetel Ejiofor, ‘Astronaut’s Shelagh McLeod, ‘Bait’s Mark Jenkin, ‘The Gentlemen’s Guy Ritchie, ‘1917’ director Sam Mendes, S’orry We Missed You’s Ken Loach, ‘Fighting With My Family’s Stephen Merchant and ‘Rocketman’ director Dexter Fletcher.
Producers Damien Jones and Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor have been acknowledged for their work on the film with a nod for the Best Producer.
The crime drama is in the lineup for Best Independent Film, Best British Film and Best Action going head-to-head with ‘1917’, ‘Official Secrets’, ‘The Aftermath’, ‘The Aeronauts’, ‘Avengement’, ‘Acceptable Damage’ and ‘Boyz in the Wood’.
Meanwhile, the cast have also been recognised for their contribution to the motion picture industry with Karla-Simone Spence – who plays Leah – up for a total of four awards.
The rising star has been nominated for Best Actress for her role in ‘Blue Story’, as well as Best Supporting Actress, Best Newcomer, and Best Actress in a TV Series for her role in ‘Top Boy’.
Khali Best is in the running for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Killy, whilst Michael is also in the lineup for Outstanding Performance against Kris Hitchen in ‘Sorry We Missed You’, Vanessa Redgrave in ‘Mrs Lowry & Sons’, Louis Ashbourne Serkis in ‘The Kid Who Would Be King’, Keira Knightly in ‘Official Secrets’, Taron Egerton in ‘Rocketman’, Himesh Patel in ‘Yesterday’, Eddie Redmayne in ‘The Aeronauts’, Idris Elba in ‘Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw’ and Liam Neeson in ‘Ordinary Love’.
Voting is open for the public nationwide until 10th March 2020 and the winners will announced at the awards ceremony in London on 20th March 2020.
An abridged list of the National Film Awards UK nominees:
BEST ACTRESS
Renee Zellweger (‘Judy’)
Jessie Buckley (‘Wild Rose’)
Sally Hawkins (‘Eternal Beauty’)
Kate Beckinsale (‘Farming’)
Emilia Clarke (‘Last Christmas’)
Karla-Simone Spence (‘Blue Story’)
Vanessa Redgrave (‘Mrs Lowry & Son’)
Keira Knightley (‘The Aftermath’)
Meera Syal (‘Yesterday’)
Lesley Manville (‘Ordinary Love’)
Ella Balinska (‘Charlie’s Angels’)
BEST ACTOR
Dev Patel (‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’)
Sam Adewunmi (‘The Last Tree’)
Tom Burke (‘The Souvenir’)
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (‘Farming’)
Richard Dreyfuss (‘Astronaut’)
Timothy Spall (‘Mrs Lowry & Son’)
Taron Egerton (‘Rocketman’)
Daniel Kaluuya (‘Queen & Slim’)
Jason Statham (‘Fast & Furious – Hobbs & Shaw’)
BEST BRITISH FILM
‘Blue Story’
‘The Corrupted’
‘Beats’
‘Scarborough’
‘Mrs Lowry & Son’
‘Rocketman’
‘The Gentlemen’
‘Animals’
‘Eternal Beauty’
‘Lynn + Lucy’
‘Best Comedy’
‘Eaten by Lions’
‘Rupert, Rupert & Rupert’
‘Beats’
‘Madness in the Method’
‘Extra Ordinary’
‘Last Christmas’
‘Blinded by the Light’
‘Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans’
‘Yesterday’
BEST DIRECTOR
Chiwetel Ejiofor (‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’)
Shelagh McLeod (‘Astronaut’)
Mark Jenkin (‘Bait’)
Guy Ritchie (‘The Gentlemen’)
Sam Mendes (‘1917’)
Ken Loach (‘Sorry We Missed You’)
Stephen Merchant (‘Fighting with my Family’)
Andrew Onwubolu (‘Blue Story’)
Dexter Fletcher (‘Rocketman’)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Julie Walters (‘Wild Rose’)
Tilda Swinton (‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’)
Jessica Barden (‘Scarborough’)
Emma Thompson (‘Last Christmas’)
Gemma Jones (‘Rocketman’)
Karla-Simone Spence (‘Blue Story’)
Vanessa Kirby (‘Fast & Furious – Hobbs & Shaw’)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Chiwetel Ejiofor (‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’)
Hugh Laurie (‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’)
Ralph Fiennes (‘Official Secrets’)
Rob Brydon (‘Blinded by the Light’)
Jamie Bell (‘Rocketman’)
Lee Mack (‘Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans’)
Sanjeev Bhaskar (‘Yesterday’)
Khali Best (‘Blue Story’)