LONDON, Feb. 20 (BNA): German anti-war film “All Quiet on the Western Front” won seven awards, including best film, at the British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, building momentum for the grim drama as awards season nears its climax. . The Oscars next month.
Irish tragicomedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” and biopic “Elvis” took home four awards each, reports the Associated Press.
All Quiet, a visceral depiction of life and death in the trenches of World War I based on Erich Maria Remarque’s classic novel, won Best Director for Edward Berger. Its other awards included an adapted screenplay, cinematography, best score, best sound, and best film in a language other than English.
Austin Butler was a surprising Best Actor winner for “Elvis”. Baz Luhrmann’s luminous music also won awards for casting, costume design, hair and make-up. Cate Blanchett won Best Actress for the orchestral drama “Tar.”
Martin McDonagh’s “Banshees,” the darkly comedic tale of a bored friendship, took home the Best British Film award.
“Best what award?” McDonagh joked about the movie, which was shot in Ireland with a largely Irish cast and crew. She has British funding. McDonagh was born in Britain to Irish parents.
The Banshees, based on McDonagh’s original screenplay, also won awards for Kerry Condon as Best Supporting Actress, and Barry Keoghan for Best Supporting Actor.
The awards — officially the EE BAFTA Film Awards — are Hollywood’s equivalent of the Oscars and will be closely watched for hints as to who might win the Oscars on March 12.
Madcap metaverse romp “Everything Everywhere at Once,” the front-runner for the Oscars, was the biggest loser of the night, winning just one of its 10 BAFTA Award nominations for editing.
Actor Richard E Grant was a suave and selfless host supported by TV presenter Alison Hammond for the gala at London’s Royal Festival Hall, where the UK’s Film Academy heralded moves to become more diverse but said there was more to come.
Grant joked in his opening monologue about the infamous altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock at last year’s Academy Awards.
“Nobody on my watch gets slapped tonight,” he said. “Except on his back.”
Guests and presenters who walked the red carpet on the South Bank of the Thames included Colin Farrell, Ana de Armas, Eddie Redmayne, Brian Cox, Florence Pugh, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Cynthia Erivo, Julianne Moore and Lily James.
Heir to the throne Prince William, president of the British Film and Television Academy, was in the audience, along with his wife Kate. William wore a tuxedo with a black velvet jacket, while Kate wore a floor-length Alexander McQueen dress that she also wore to the 2019 BAFTAs.
Helen Mirren paid tribute to William’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September. Mirren, who portrayed the late king on screen in “The Queen” and on stage in “The Audience,” described Elizabeth as “the nation’s leading lady.”
The British Film Academy introduced changes to increase the diversity of awards in 2020, when no women were nominated as Best Director for the seventh consecutive year, and all 20 nominees in the lead and supporting artist categories were white.
This year, 11 female directors participated in the awards in all categories, including documentaries and animation. However, one of the main nominees for Best Director was Gina Prince-Bytwood for “The Woman King.”
BAFTA President Krishnendo Majumdar said soul-searching at the Academy was a “necessary and humbling process”. He said the “vital work of equal opportunity” would continue.
“West Side Story” star Ariana DeBose opened the show with a performance of “Sisters are Doin’ it for Themselves,” with an additional rap shout-out to some of the female nominees, including Blanchett, Michelle Yeoh, and Viola Davis.
Blanchett said it was “a special year for women artists. It’s really special to be counted among them.”
It’s been a strong year for Irish actors at the BAFTAs, with Deryl McCormack taking home the BAFTA Rising Star award despite losing out to Emma Mackey – and Condon, Keoghan, Farrell and Brendan Gleeson all earning acting nominations for The Banshees.
McCormack hailed the event as “the union of the Irish BAFTAs”.
“It’s such a small country, but to see the talent coming out of it is so amazing,” he said.
Writer-director Charlotte Wells won Best British Debut for her touching father-daughter drama Aftersun. Three-time Academy Award winner Sandy Powell became the first fashion designer to be awarded the Academy’s highest honour, the BAFTA Fellowship.
The harsh world outside of entertainment stormed into the awards when Bulgarian journalist Kristo Grozev, who works for the investigative website Bellingcat, said he was now allowed to attend the awards because there was a risk to public security. He was featured in “Navalny,” a film about imprisoned Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny and won a BAFTA Award for Best Documentary Feature.
“Navalny” producer Odyssey Ray dedicated the award to Grozev, “the Bulgarian nerd with a laptop, who couldn’t be with us tonight because his life is threatened by the Russian government and Vladimir Putin.”
Jamie Lee Curtis, Supporting Actress and Everything Everywhere nominee, said awards season’s opportunity to celebrate cinema was more important than the winner.
“It’s a moment of celebration in the midst of it all,” Curtis told the Associated Press on the red carpet. “It’s tough out there. Everywhere. All at once. All the time.”