'Ida' garners two Bafta nominations

Anne Morrison, Chairwoman of Bafta (C), holds a Bafta statuette flanked by British actor Stephen Fry (L) and British actor Sam Claflin (R) during the Bafta film awards nominations, London, 09 January 2015. EPA/ANDY RAIN

British actors Stephen Fry and Sam Claflin announced the candidates early on Friday morning, and Ida is in the running for both best cinematography and the best foreign language film.

Pawlikowski, who emigrated with his family from Poland as a 14-year-old, has spent much of his life in the UK, and his award-winning 2004 film My Summer of Love explores the British class system.

Ida won the Grand Prix at the 57th London Film Festival, among a slew of other international awards, and critics have tipped the film as an Oscar favourite.

The film follows the plight of an orphan who was handed over to a nunnery as a child during the Second World War. Just before she takes her vows, her Mother Superior instructs her to visit her sole surviving relative, a disillusioned Stalinist judge, and the mystery of her Jewish past is revealed.

The Bafta awards ceremony will be held at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, on 8 February. (nh)