Two films score 9 nominations each

Press, 13 February 1986, Page 11

Two films score 9 nominations each

NZPA-AP London Milos Forman’s “Amadeus” and David Lean’s “A Passage to India,” two 1984 Oscar heavyweights, each received nine nominations yesterday for 1985 awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Both will compete in the best film category with Robert Zemeckis’ “Back to the Future,” Peter Weir’s “Witness,” and Woody Alien’s “The Purple Rose of Cairo.”

The winner will be announced on March 16.

Dame Peggy Ashcroft, who won last year’s best supporting actress Oscar for “A Passage to India,” is up for best actress with Kelly McGillis in “Witness,” Mia Farrow in “The Purple Rose of Cairo,” and Alexandra

Pigg in "Letter to Brezhnev.”

Murray Abraham, who won an Oscar for playing the court composer, Salieri, in “Amadeus,” will compete for best actor against Victor Banerjee in “A Passage to India,” William Hurt in “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” and Harrison Ford in “Witness.” Ford and Hurt received 1985 Oscar nominations last week for their performances.

“The Color Purple” and “Out of Africa,” two widely nominated films in the United States, are ineligible in Britain because they have not yet been released there.

Anjelica Huston, considered to be an Oscar frontrunner for her supporting role in “Prizzi’s Honor,” was similarly nominated

by the British Academy, with Tracy Ullman in “Plenty,” Judi Dench in “Wetherby,” and Rosanna Arquette in “Desperately Seeking Susan.” Supporting actor nominations went to Denholm Elliott in “Defence of the Realm,” James Fox in “A Passage to India,” Sir John Gielgud in “Plenty,” and Saeed Jaffrey in “My Beautiful Laundrette.” Nominations for best foreign film went to Francesco Rosi’s “Carmen,” Wayne Wang’s “Dim Sum,” Luc Besson’s “Subway,” and Istvan Szabo’s “Colonel Redl.” “A Chorus Line,” Sir Richard Attenborough’s critically denounced film of the long-running Broadway musical, received two nominations — for best editing and best sound.