Oscar nominations 2022: Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman and Kenneth Branagh lead strong British showing

Dame Judi Dench is hoping to turn her eighth Oscar nomination into a second win as the Academy award nominations recognised a year of strong performances by British talent.

Dame Judi, 87, is up for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Belfast, Sir Kenneth Branagh’s lyrical black-and-white film based on his childhood in Northern Ireland.

The actress previously won the category in 1998 for Shakespeare In Love.

Belfast impressed the voters with seven nods, including best Film and Director for Branagh as well as a Supporting Actor nomination for Ciarán Hinds.

However Jane Campion’s Netflix Western The Power of the Dog, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, leads the Oscar field with 12 nominations.

Cumberbatch’s turn as a sadistic rancher who meddles with his brother’s new wife, wins him a shot at Best Actor.

The Sherlock star is up against Andrew Garfield, nominated for his performance as the Rent musical composer Jonathan Larson in Tick, Tick…BOOM!

The British actors face stiff competition from Will Smith, who is nominated for his turn as the father of Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard.

Olivia Colman is also hoping for a second Oscar. The 2019 Best Actress winner returns in the same category for her role as a troubled mother in The Lost Daughter.

Irish actress Jessie Buckley makes the Supporting Actress category for her performance in the film.

Campion makes history as the first woman to be nominated for the best Director Oscar twice. She was nominated for The Piano in 1994.

Kristen Stewart, earning her first Oscar nod for her starring role as Princess Diana in Spencer, joins a handful of out LGBTQ actors to receive an acting nomination.

Sir Ian McKellen was nominated 20 years ago for his role in The Lord of the Rings and has been credited as the first, while West Side Story‘s Ariana DeBose, who identifies as queer, is also among the list of nominees.

Should DeBose win the supporting actress Oscar for her Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story remake, she and Rita Moreno would join an exclusive club of pairs of actors to win for playing the same character.

Two couples are nominated within the 20 acting places that were available.

Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers) and Javier Bardem (Being The Ricardos) have been married since 2010, while Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst (both The Power of the Dog) are engaged.

Ari Wegner becomes just the second woman nominated at the Oscars in the cinematography category for her work on The Power of the Dog.

Denis Villeneuve’s £130m epic Dune adaptation scored nominations, marking a resurgence of the sci-fi genre.

The film, which took £350m at the box office, is expected to sweep up in the technical categories.

The 94th Oscars will take place on 27 March in Los Angeles.