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BAFTA Film Awards 2021: ‘Nomadland’ Dominates With Four Wins, Including Best Film

Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” dominated at the BAFTA Film Awards, where the Frances McDormand-led road movie picked up four prizes, including best film.

The Searchlight-produced movie also won for lead actress, cinematography and director, putting it well ahead of all other films.

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Hosted by Edith Bowman and Dermot O’Leary, the second night of the BAFTAs awarded 17 prizes in total, with presenters joining from the Royal Albert Hall in London, where the physical awards are usually held annually, as well as Los Angeles. All nominees participated virtually.

The 2021 event marks a historic turning point for the BAFTAs. They are the first edition to take place since the organization’s groundbreaking diversity review, which was carried out following last year’s #BAFTAsSoWhite scandal.

There’s been no shortage of drama leading up to this evening, with BAFTA president Prince William, who was set to appear on both nights of the awards, dropping out following the death of his grandfather, Prince Philip. Saturday’s broadcast of the craft prizes was also delayed by an hour to accommodate schedule changes from the BBC’s coverage of the Duke of Edinburgh.

A brief tribute was paid to the 99-year-old Prince Philip, BAFTA’s first president, before delving straight in to the prizes.

Altogether, this year’s awards, including Saturday’s craft prizes, were generally spread out among a large group of films. “Promising Young Woman” won two awards (outstanding British film, original screenplay), alongside “Rocks” (casting, EE Rising Star Award), “Soul” (animation, original score), “Sound of Metal” (sound, editing), “The Father” (actor, best adapted screenplay) and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (costume, make-up and hair).

Others picking up golden masks included “Minari,” which won best supporting actress for Yuh-Jung Youn, who delivered the most candid acceptance speech of the evening, noting that “every award is meaningful, but this one, especially recognized by British people, known as very snobbish people.”

Other standout wins included “His House” director Remi Weekes’ win for outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer.

“This is for the immigrants, migrants and asylum seekers — the Black, Brown and Queer people who have nurtured me and lifted me up in my life. I look forward to doing the same in return,” said Weekes.

Bukky Bakray, this year’s recipient of the prestigious EE Rising Star Award, spoke eloquently about the indie film and why it has captivated audiences the world over. “When you look at a ‘Rocks’ narrative, it’s not flashy, it’s not crazy, there’s no guns, there’s no stunts. Even though I love films that have that, this film is minimalist. it really focuses on life and human nature and humanity.”

The BAFTA Fellowship, the organization’s highest honor, was presented by “The Undoing” star Hugh Grant to Ang Lee, who reflected on his experiences in the U.K., noting that “‘Sense and Sensibility’ was like a second education to me.”

“I could only communicate in short sentences…My British colleagues were super patient and kind to me,” said Lee. “After ‘Sense and Sensibility,’ I dared to venture into other types of movies.”

Meanwhile, Anthony Hopkins won best actor for “The Father,” but wasn’t on hand to collect the award, with director Florian Zeller accepting on his behalf. However, he later turned up to a virtual winners’ press conference, where he confirmed he won’t be attending the Oscars. “I’m going to be in Wales for the Oscars, when are they again?” he joked.

Overall, BAFTA pulled off glitch-free events across the weekend, its one major misstep being the omission in its ‘In Memoriam’ section of Dame Diana Rigg, who starred in James Bond film “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.”

Director Edgar Wright, who worked with Rigg on his upcoming film “Last Night in Soho,” was one of the first to point out her absence online, though he later deleted his tweet.

BAFTA told Variety: “With limited time available for obituaries within the broadcast, it isn’t possible to honor all those who have sadly passed away. BAFTA’s committee considered Dame Diana Rigg to be better known for her work in TV so she will be included in BAFTA’s TV Awards broadcast this year. Dame Diana Rigg also features in BAFTA’s online records.”

Full winners’ list below. Click here for craft awards coverage.

BEST FILM

*WINNER* NOMADLAND
Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Chloé Zhao

THE FATHER
Philippe Carcassonne, Jean-Louis Livi, David Parfitt

THE MAURITANIAN
TBC

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Ben Browning, Emerald Fennell, Ashley Fox, Josey McNamara

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Stuart Besser, Marc Platt

LEADING ACTRESS

*WINNER* FRANCES McDORMAND
Nomadland

BUKKY BAKRAY
Rocks

RADHA BLANK
The Forty-Year-Old Version

VANESSA KIRBY
Pieces of a Woman

WUNMI MOSAKU
His House

ALFRE WOODARD
Clemency

LEADING ACTOR

*WINNER* ANTHONY HOPKINS
The Father

RIZ AHMED
Sound of Metal

CHADWICK BOSEMAN
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

ADARSH GOURAV
The White Tiger

MADS MIKKELSEN
Another Round

TAHAR RAHIM
The Mauritanian

DIRECTOR

*WINNER* NOMADLAND
Chloé Zhao

ANOTHER ROUND
Thomas Vinterberg

BABYTEETH
Shannon Murphy

MINARI
Lee Isaac Chung

QUO VADIS, AIDA?
Jasmila Žbanić

ROCKS
Sarah Gavron

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

*WINNER* PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Emerald Fennell, Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Josey McNamara

CALM WITH HORSES
Nick Rowland, Daniel Emmerson, Joe Murtagh

THE DIG
Simon Stone, Gabrielle Tana, Moira Buffini

THE FATHER
Florian Zeller, Philippe Carcassone, Jean-Louis Livi, David Parfitt, Christopher Hampton

HIS HOUSE
Remi Weekes, Martin Gentles, Edward Kings, Roy Lee

LIMBO
Ben Sharrock, Irune Gurtubai, Angus Lamont

THE MAURITANIAN
Kevin Macdonald, Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani, M.B. Traven

MOGUL MOWGLI
Bassam Tariq, Riz Ahmed, Thomas Benski, Bennett McGhee

ROCKS
Sarah Gavron, Ameenah Ayub Allen, Faye Ward, Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson

SAINT MAUD
Rose Glass, Andrea Cornwell, Oliver Kassman

ORIGINAL SCORE

*WINNER* SOUL
Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

MANK
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

MINARI
Emile Mosseri

NEWS OF THE WORLD
James Newton Howard

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Anthony Willis

DOCUMENTARY

*WINNER* MY OCTOPUS TEACHER
Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed, Craig Foster

COLLECTIVE
Alexander Nanau

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: A LIFE ON OUR PLANET
Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes, Keith Scholey

THE DISSIDENT
Bryan Fogel, Thor Halvorssen

THE SOCIAL DILEMMA
Jeff Orlowski, Larissa Rhodes

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

*WINNER* HIS HOUSE
Remi Weekes (Writer/Director)

LIMBO
Ben Sharrock (Writer/Director), Irune Gurtubai (Producer) [also produced by Angus Lamont]

MOFFIE
Jack Sidey (Writer/Producer) [also written by Oliver Hermanus and produced by Eric Abraham]

ROCKS
Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson (Writers)

SAINT MAUD
Rose Glass (Writer/Director), Oliver Kassman (Producer) [also produced by Andrea Cornwell]

SUPPORTING ACTOR

*WINNER* DANIEL KALUUYA
Judas and the Black Messiah

BARRY KEOGHAN
Calm With Horses

ALAN KIM
Minari

LESLIE ODOM JR.
One Night in Miami…

CLARKE PETERS
Da 5 Bloods

PAUL RACI
Sound of Metal

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

*WINNER* PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Emerald Fennell

ANOTHER ROUND
Tobias Lindholm, Thomas Vinterberg

MANK
Jack Fincher

ROCKS
Theresa Ikoko, Claire Wilson

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Aaron Sorkin

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

*WINNER* YUH-JUNG YOUN
Minari

NIAMH ALGAR
Calm With Horses

KOSAR ALI
Rocks

MARIA BAKALOVA
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

DOMINIQUE FISHBACK
Judas and the Black Messiah

ASHLEY MADEKWE
County Lines

CINEMATOGRAPHY

*WINNER* NOMADLAND
Joshua James Richards

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Sean Bobbitt

MANK
Erik Messerschmidt

THE MAURITANIAN
Alwin H. Küchler

NEWS OF THE WORLD
Dariusz Wolski

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

*WINNER* ANOTHER ROUND
Thomas Vinterberg, Sisse Graum Jørgensen

DEAR COMRADES!
Andrei Konchalovsky, Alisher Usmanov

LES MISÉRABLES
Ladj Ly

MINARI
Lee Isaac Chung, Christina Oh

QUO VADIS, AIDA?
Jasmila Žbanić, Damir Ibrahimovich

EDITING

*WINNER* SOUND OF METAL
Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

THE FATHER
Yorgos Lamprinos

NOMADLAND
Chloé Zhao

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Frédéric Thoraval

THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
Alan Baumgarten

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

*WINNER* THE FATHER
Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller

THE DIG
Moira Buffini

THE MAURITANIAN
Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani, M.B. Traven

NOMADLAND
Chloé Zhao

THE WHITE TIGER
Ramin Bahrani

ANIMATED FILM

*WINNER* SOUL
Pete Docter, Dana Murray

ONWARD
Dan Scanlon, Kori Rae

WOLFWALKERS
Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young

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