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BAFTA Film Awards 2021: ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ Picks Up Two Awards on Opening Night

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” was the big winner on the opening night of the 2021 BAFTA Film Awards, taking home two golden masks from a possible two.

Night 1, hosted virtually by radio and TV presenter Clara Amfo, was a mostly craft-centered affair which also yielded wins for “Mank,” “Tenet” and “Sound of Metal.”

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The first show was originally scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. local time, but according to sources the BBC made a late decision to push the broadcast by an hour. Amfo opened the show by reading a tribute to Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, who died Friday at the age of 99.

“On behalf of BAFTA, we are extremely saddened by the passing of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, on Friday. The Duke was BAFTA’s very first president over 60 years ago and was the first of a line of royal patronage all the way through to BAFTA’s current president, his grandson, the Duke of Cambridge. It was Prince Philip and Her Majesty the Queen’s support throughout these years that in many ways allowed BAFTA, a leading charity in the arts, to continue in difficult times and to be here today in 2021,” Amfo read. “The Duke of Edinburgh occupies a very special place in BAFTA history and he will be missed. Our thoughts are with his family.”

Prince William was scheduled to bring a royal touch to proceedings, however, the BAFTA president pulled out from both nights following the death of his grandfather.

Amfo was joined by “The Thick of It” actor Joanna Scanlan and critic Rhianna Dhillon who pointed to the “record number of female directors and ethnicities represented” in this year’s nominees.

The musical interlude on opening night came courtesy of Leslie Odom Jr., who performed the song “Speak Now” from his film “One Night in Miami.” Odom Jr. will be back for the main event on Sunday, when the winners for best film, director and the acting categories will be announced.

Saturday’s festivities were capped off by Noel Clarke, former “Doctor Who” and current “Bulletproof” star, who gave a passionate speech in accepting the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award.

“This is for the underrepresented. Anyone who sits at home believing they can achieve more. This is for my Black boys and girls out there who never believed this could happen to them,” said Clarke.

Here are Saturday’s winners:

CASTING

*WINNER* ROCKS
Lucy Pardee

CALM WITH HORSES
Shaheen Baig

JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Alexa L. Fogel

MINARI
Julia Kim

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN
Lindsay Graham Ahanonu, Mary Vernieu

COSTUME DESIGN

*WINNER* MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Ann Roth

AMMONITE
Michael O’Connor

THE DIG
Alice Babidge

EMMA
Alexandra Byrne

MANK
Trish Summerville

MAKE UP & HAIR

*WINNER* MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
Matiki Anoff, Larry M. Cherry, Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal

THE DIG
Jenny Shircore

HILLBILLY ELEGY
Patricia Dehaney, Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle

MANK
Kimberley Spiteri, Gigi Williams

PINOCCHIO
Mark Coulier

PRODUCTION DESIGN

*WINNER* MANK
Donald Graham Burt, Jan Pascale

THE DIG
Maria Djurkovic, Tatiana Macdonald

THE FATHER
Peter Francis, Cathy Featherstone

NEWS OF THE WORLD
David Crank, Elizabeth Keenan

REBECCA
Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer

SOUND

*WINNER* SOUND OF METAL
Jaime Baksht, Nicolas Becker, Phillip Bladh, Carlos Cortés, Michelle Couttolenc

GREYHOUND
Beau Borders, Christian P. Minkler, Michael Minkler, Warren Shaw, David Wyman

NEWS OF THE WORLD
Michael Fentum, William Miller, Mike Prestwood Smith, John Pritchett, Oliver Tarney

NOMADLAND
Sergio Diaz, Zach Seivers, M. Wolf Snyder

SOUL
Coya Elliott, Ren Klyce, David Parker

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

*WINNER* TENET
Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lockley

GREYHOUND
Pete Bebb, Nathan McGuinness, Sebastian von Overheidt

THE MIDNIGHT SKY
Matt Kasmir, Chris Lawrence, David Watkins

MULAN
Sean Faden, Steve Ingram, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury

THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN
Santiago Colomo Martinez, Nick Davis, Greg Fisher

BRITISH SHORT FILM

*WINNER* THE PRESENT
Farah Nabulsi

EYELASH
Jesse Lewis-Reece, Ike Newman

LIZARD
Akinola Davies, Rachel Dargavel, Wale Davies

LUCKY BREAK
John Addis, Rami Sarras Pantoja

MISS CURVY
Ghada Eldemellawy

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION

*WINNER* THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT
Mole Hill, Laura Duncalf

THE FIRE NEXT TIME
Renaldho Pelle, Yanling Wang, Kerry Jade Kolbe

THE SONG OF A LOST BOY
Daniel Quirke, Jamie MacDonald, Brid Arnstein

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