Carey Mulligan in An Education (Kerry Brown / Sony Pictures Classics) (top); James Cameron's Avatar (ILM / 20th Century Fox) by (middle); Ben Whishaw, Abbie Cornish in Bright Star (Apparition) (bottom)
With 17 mentions, Lone Scherfig's An Education leads the 2010 British Academy of Film and Television Arts award longlists. Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds is next with 15 mentions, followed by Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker with 12. James Cameron's Avatar and Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones received 11 mentions apiece. (See next page.)
As usual, talent in small British films was bypassed in favor of those found in Hollywood productions. Up, Up in the Air, Star Trek, Gran Torino, A Serious Man, and Precious are a few other American films that received multiple mentions from the British Academy.
Despite excellent reviews in Cannes, Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank isn't up for best picture, nor is Jane Campion's Bright Star. Out of 15 films in that category's longlist, the only British entries are An Education and Duncan Jones' Moon. District 9 has some South African financing, while all other best picture contenders are Hollywood productions to some extent or other.
At least, both Campion and Arnold are up for the best director BAFTA, along with Scherfig and Jones. The other potential candidates are those you've been seeing on critics' lists in the United States, e.g., Jason Reitman (Up in the Air), Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino.