First person to receive Oscar nominations in seven different categories

As the writer, director and co-producer of the coming-of-age drama Belfast (UK, 2021), Sir Kenneth Branagh (UK) landed three nominations ahead of the 94th Academy Awards on 27 March 2022: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Branagh’s first-ever Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay nods took the number of award categories in which he’d been nominated to seven – one more than George Clooney managed at the Oscars between 2006 and 2013.

Sir Kenneth’s Oscar nominations in full: Best Director (Henry V, 1990, and Belfast, 2022); Best Actor (Henry V, 1990); Best Live Action Short Film (Swan Song, 1993); Best Adapted Screenplay (Hamlet, 1997); Best Supporting Actor (My Week with Marilyn, 2012); Best Picture (Belfast, 2022); Best Original Screenplay (Belfast, 2022).

From five previous Oscar nominations (1990-2012), Branagh has failed to pick up a single trophy at the Academy Awards, but it could be sixth, seventh or eighth time lucky in 2022 with his critically acclaimed Belfast. As the name suggests, the film is set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, at the start of “The Troubles” (aka the Northern Ireland conflict) and stars Jude Hill, Caitríona Balfe, Ciarán Hinds (nominated for Best Supporting Actor) and Dame Judi Dench (nominated for Best Supporting Actress).

Should he win Best Picture at the 94th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, California, on 27 March 2022, Branagh will share the accolade with co-producers Laura Berwick, Becca Kovacik and Tamar Thomas.