BAFTA Nominations 2014: 'Gravity’ Leads The Race With 11 Nods; Director Alfonso Cuaron Also Competes For A DGA

The nominations for the EE British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) for 2014 were announced today, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014. Not surprisingly, Alfonso Cuarón's "Gravity" received 11 nominations, followed closely by "12 Years a Slave" and "American Hustle" which were nominated for ten categories. "Gravity" was nominated for: Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Director for Alfonso Cuarón, Original Screenplay, Original Music, Cinematography, Editing, Production Design, Sound and Special Visual Effects. Sandra Bullock is nominated for Leading Actress. And it's not just the BAFTA awards--"Gravity" was nominated in the Directors Guild of America (DGA) which will mark Cuarón's first DGA nomination.

The significance of these nominations for the Latino director lies in the simple fact that they usually predict which films will do the best at the Academy Awards. For instance, in 2013, Ben Affleck's "Argo" won the BAFTA awards for best film and then proceeded to win best picture at the Oscars. With the momentum from the BAFTA and DGA nominations, "Gravity" is slated to return to theaters nationwide on Jan. 17, reports The Wrap, after already raking in $670 million worldwide. Warner Bros. has yet to reveal how many theaters the film will be re-released in.

Cuarón spoke with Awards Line about his experience writing the script with his son, Jonas, and why the film took five years to make. "There was not technology that existed that we could use to achieve what we wanted to do," explained Cuarón. "So we had to develop our own set of tools. (Originally), I thought about building bigger sets because I was going to do it in a more conventional way, just moving the camera upside down. And once we started, it was clear that that technology was not going to make it."

The BAFTA will take place at the London's Royal Opera House on Feb. 16. The DGA winners will be announced at a dinner hosted by actress Jane Lynch in Los Angeles on Jan. 25.