The Britons have most definitely succumbed to the charms of "Amelie." The BAFTA Awards (the British equivalent of the Oscars, open to foreign films), honored Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film with an impressive 9 nominations, behind "Moulin Rouge" and "The Lord of the Rings," which each picked up 12 nominations.
Having already created a stir with close to 200,000 spectators registered after just 10 days on theater screens across the Channel in October, "Amelie" has lost no time in stamping itself as the biggest French success story in Britain, eclipsing the previous record set by "Cyrano de Bergerac." The film boasts 800,000 admissions to date, representing €7 million, and looks set to cross the million spectators threshold!
"Amelie" has been nominated in the following categories:
* Best Film
* Best Foreign Film
* Best Actress (Audrey Tautou)
* Best Director (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
* Best Original Screenplay (Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Guillaume Laurant)
* Best Music (Yann Tiersen)
* Best Editing (Hervé Schneid)
* Best Production Design (Aline Bonetto)
* Best Cinematography (Bruno Delbonnel)
It is worth noting that "Amelie" is up against "A Beautiful Mind" by Ron Howard, "Lord of the Rings" by Peter Jackson, "Moulin Rouge" by Baz Luhrmann and the animated film "Shrek" for the Best Film award.
"The Piano Teacher" by Michael Haneke has also been nominated for the Best Foreign Film award. The film is competing with "Avril Brisé," "Monsoon Wedding" and "Love's a Bitch."
Audrey Tautou is up against Judi Dench for "Iris", Nicole Kidman for "The Others," Sissy Spacek for "In the Bedroom" and Renée Zellwegger for "The Diary of Bridget Jones."
In the lead-up to the awards ceremony, to be held February 24, "Amelie" continues its brilliant career in Sweden, where it was honored as Best Foreign Film.
