The 72nd British Academy Film Awards are underway at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Yorgos Lanthimos’s “The Favourite” has the most nominations heading into the night with 12, leading “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “First Man,” “Roma,” and “A Star is Born,” which all have seven.
The ceremony is being hosted for the second consecutive year by Joanna Lumley who mocked the Oscars’ with her opening joke. “Thank goodness BAFTA actually has a host,” said Lumley. “But I suspect that may have something do to with the fact I’m not on Twitter.”
Congratulating Bradley Cooper on his record-equalling five-nominations in different disciplines for “A Star is Born” Lumley said it “probably means he needs to learn how to delegate.” “Roma” director Alfonso Cuaron was also nominated for five disciplines plus a received a sixth nomination for Film Not in the English Language. “One more than you Bradley, come on, pull your finger out next time,” joked Lumley.
The first award of the night went to “The Favourite” as it picked up outstanding British film. “This film took 20 years to make, I contributed to the last 10,” said director Yorgos Lanthimos. The film then quickly scored its second win in the production design category.
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Olivia Colman won best actress for her role as Queen Anne in the film.
First-time nominee Rami Malek won the best actor award. The actor thanked Freddie Mercury, who he called “the greatest outsider of them” for being “unwavering, unflinching and uncompromising in every way.”
Rachel Weisz won best supporting actress for “The Favourite” beating out co-star Emma Stone. Weisz said: “I had the most extraordinary luck in that I played opposite two of the most glorious women Olivia Colman and Emma Stone.” It is Weisz’s first BAFTA having been nominated once before for “The Constant Gardener,” for which she won an Oscar. Her win meant “Vice” actress Amy Adams went home empty-handed for a 7th time.
Mahershala Ali won best supporting actor for Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book.” “The work itself has always been the reward for me so to get this sort of thing is always a bit surreal,” said Ali. It is Ali’s first BAFTA having been nominated in the same category two years for “Moonlight,” for which he won an Oscar.
Picking up the original screenplay award for “The Favourite,” writer Deborah Davis, who write the first draft of the screenplay 20 years ago, thanked BAFTA for “celebrating our female-dominated movie about women in power.”
Costume designer Sandy Powell picked up her third BAFTA from 15 nominations for “The Favourite,” beating her own work on “Mary Poppins Returns,” which was also nominated. Mark Coulier was less lucky in the make-up and hair category having been nominated twice for both”Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Stan & Ollie,” but losing out to Nadia Stacey, also for “The Favourite.”
Alfonso Cuaron won three BAFTAs from six personal nominations, including best director. “Roma” won the BAFTA for film not in the English language. Cuaron previously picked up a BAFTA in the same category for producing Guillermo Del Toro’s 2006 movie “Pan’s Labyrinth.” The filmmaker also won for his cinematography on “Roma.”
“Thank you Alfonso, you did not make this easy, but it was worth it,” said producer Gabriela Rodriguez collecting the award for film not in the English language alongside Cuaron.
British-Guyanese actress Letitia Wright won the EE Rising Star Award, the only award voted for by the public. “I want to thank everybody who gave me a chance,” said Wright. Saying she had previously considered giving up acting but that her faith had helped her through, she encouraged “anybody that is going through a tough time” to know that “God made you and loves you. Let your light shine.”
Last year’s rising star award went to Wright’s “Black Panther” co-star Daniel Kaluuya. “Black Panther” picked up this year’s BAFTA for special visual effects.
Spike Lee won his first BAFTA with a win for “BlacKkKlansman” in the adapted screenplay category. Lee thanked the film’s real-life subject Ron Stallworth for infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan. “Brooklyn’s in the house,” cried out the acclaimed director from the stage.
“A Star is Born” won its first BAFTA for original music, also handing Cooper his first win of five personal nominations of the evening. “I got to fulfil a dream I never thought would happen,” said Cooper of the chance to compose music, “and I got to do it with some of the best musicians in the world. The music was the heartbeat of the film.”
Alfonso Cuaron won his first award of six personal nominations shortly after with a win for his cinematography on “Roma.”
“Roma” also won the BAFTA for film not in the English language. Cuaron previously picked up a BAFTA in the same category for producing Guillermo Del Toro’s 2006 movie “Pan’s Labyrinth.” “Thank you Alfonso, you did not make this easy, but it was worth it,” said producer Gabriela Rodriguez collecting the award alongside Cuaron.
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” took home the BAFTA for best animated film. “Animation is not a genre, it is a medium, and that medium is film,” said writer-producer Phil Lord, who previously won in the same category for “The Lego Movie.”
Free-climbing documentary “Free Solo” won the award for best documentary. “It has been an incredible year for non-fiction films and we’re just proud to be a part of it,” said co-producer and co-director Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi. The film is already U.K. documentary specialist Dogwoof’s biggest hit in the market having grossed £1.7 million ($2.1 million) and will enter the all-time top ten highest grossing documentaries in the U.K. this week.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” scored its first win of the night in the sound category. Production sound mixer John Casali thanked Queen’s Brian May and Roger Taylor, who were in the audience, for their support and “all the awesome music.”
Hank Corwin took home his first BAFTA for his editing on Adam McKay’s “Vice.” Corwin had previously been nominated for McKay’s “The Big Short.”
Before coming on Lumley was seen in a video introduction featuring the host trying out outfits for the show, appearing in a number of costumes referencing nominated films including “The Favourite, “Stan & Ollie,” “Mary Poppins Returns,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and “First Man.” The latter segued into a performance by acrobatic group Cirque de Soleil’s Totem in an interpretation of the moon landing which received a standing ovation from the celebrity audience.
As previously announced, BAFTA- and Oscar-winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker was honored with a BAFTA Fellowship, the body’s highest accolade, for her outstanding and exceptional contribution to the industry. Schoonmaker had previous won BAFTA awards for her editing on Martin Scorsese’s films “Raging Bull” and “Goodfellas.” Scorsese was awarded the Fellowship in 2012. Schoonmaker’s late husband, British filmmaker Michael Powell, received the Fellowship in 1981.
Also previously announced, the special BAFTA award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema was presented to producers Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley of Number 9 Films (“Carol,” “The Crying Game”). Presenting the award actor Bill Nighy said the pair were “among the most successful and influential filmmakers in the world.”
More to come…
FULL WINNERS LIST (UPDATING LIVE):
DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuaron, “Roma”
LEADING ACTOR
Rami Malek, “Bohemian Rhapsody”
LEADING ACTRESS
Olivia Colman, “The Favourite”
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mahershala Ali, “Green Book”
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Rachel Weisz, “The Favourite”
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“The Favourite,” Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“BlacKkKlansman,” Spike Lee, David Rabinowitz, Charlie Wachtel, Kevin Willmott
ORIGINAL MUSIC
“A Star is Born,” Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga, Lukas Nelson
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
“Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón, Gabriela Rodríguez
DOCUMENTARY
“Free Solo,” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Shannon Dill, Evan Hayes
ANIMATED FILM
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,”Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
“The Favourite,” Yorgos Lanthimos, Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón
EDITING
“Vice,” Hank Corwin
PRODUCTION DESIGN
“The Favourite,” Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton
COSTUME DESIGN
“The Favourite,” Sandy Powell
MAKE UP & HAIR
“The Favourite,” Nadia Stacey
SOUND
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” John Casali, Tim Cavagin, Nina Hartstone, Paul Massey, John Warhurst
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
“Black Panther,” Geoffrey Baumann, Jesse James Chisholm, Craig Hammack, Dan Sudick
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
“Beast,” Michael Pearce (Writer/Director), Lauren Dark (Producer)
BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
“Roughhouse,” Jonathan Hodgson, Richard Van Den Boom
BRITISH SHORT FILM
“73 Cows,” Alex Lockwood
EE RISING STAR AWARD (VOTED FOR BY THE PUBLIC)
Letitia Wright
OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA (PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED)
Elizabeth Karlsen and Stephen Woolley, Number 9 Films
BAFTA FELLOWSHIP (PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED)
Thelma Schoonmaker
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