Liberace biopic and lesbian drama among Bafta 2014 nominations

An HBO film about gay pianist Liberace starring Matt Damon and Michael Douglas and a lesbian drama which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes last year are among the nominations for this year’s Bafta Awards.

Behind the Candelabra is nominated for Adapted Screenplay, and Blue is the Warmest Colour has been given a nod for Film Not in the English Language award.

The Baftas will take place on 16 February at the Royal Opera House.

The Liberace biopic last year won three Emmys, including one for best TV movie.

In January 2013, Steven Soderburgh said Behind the Candelabra was turned down by the big Hollywood studios for being “too gay.”

It didn’t get a screen run in the US but was shown at cinemas across the UK and in other countries.

When the film debuted on HBO in May, it achieved the highest ratings for a TV film in the US since 2004.

Tory MP Michael Fabricant, who has consistently voted for gay rights has changed his Twitter profile picture to an image of Matt Damon as Liberace’s lover from this year’s Hollywood biopic about the flamboyant star.

It has also been nominated for three Golden Globes, the winners of which will be announced on 12 January.

It was announced in May 2013 that Blue is the Warmest Colour had won the Palme d’Or, beating the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewelyn Davis, which won the Grand Prix, the runner up prize. 

In May, Julie-Maroh, who wrote the graphic novel Blue is the Warmest Colour, called the film’s portrayal “a brutal and surgical display, exuberant and cold, of so-called lesbian sex, which turned into porn, and [made] me feel very ill at ease. Especially when, in the middle of a movie theatre, everyone was giggling.”

She added: “The heteronormative laughed because they don’t understand it and find the scene ridiculous. The gay and queer people laughed because it’s not convincing, and [they] found it ridiculous.”

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