By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | April 12, 2021 |
By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | April 12, 2021 |
The Bafta Film Awards took place this weekend over two days in the UK, and the results were surprisingly solid. For the past decade of so, Bafta has faced major criticisms that it’s become less focused on celebrating British film and more enamored with being an Oscars precursor, complete with the staggering lack of diversity that entailed. In response, Bafta changed the nomination process, brought in new members, and increased the number of nominees in key categories. The result was one of the best slate of nominees we’ve ever seen from the Baftas. Films like Rocks, His House, Calm With Horses, and Saint Maud appeared alongside expected Oscar hits like Nomadland and The Trial of the Chicago 7. For the first time in what felt like forever, the Baftas were exciting and, dare I say it, relevant again.
That being said, the winners were mostly pretty predictable and fell in line with expected Oscar narratives. That’s not to say that the victors were bad or undeserving — in a year this strong, it’s hard to begrudge these choices — but it speaks volumes as to how, even in a year this unpredictable and different thanks to extenuating circumstances, the trends remain in place. Nomadland won both Best Picture and Best Director, with Chloe Zhao becoming only the second woman to win best director in the 53 years of the category’s history. Frances McDormand took home Best Actress in a category that didn’t include frontrunners like Viola Davis, Andra Day, or Carey Mulligan, so that race continues to be up in the air.
Maybe the big surprise of the night, if you can call it that, was Anthony Hopkins winning Best Actor for The Father. Personally, I’m delighted to see him be recognized for that performance, which would be storming every awards ceremony in a quieter year. Hopkins was not there to receive his award via Zoom. He later told the BBC he was sitting in his house painting and ‘I heard this cheer go off next door. I thought, what the hell’s happened? I thought they were watching a football match. And they came in and said I’d won.’ Bless this man and his amazing social media presence.
Youn Yuh-jung won Best Supporting Actress for Minari and gave a mega-charming speech where she called us Brits snobs. She’s right! But nobody was more surprised by their win than this year’s recipient of the Rising Star Award — the only award of the night voted on by the British public — Bukky Bakray from Rocks.
Now THAT'S a winning reaction! Bukky Bakray (@BBUKKX) accepts the #EERisingStar Award for her role in @RocksTheFilm 🆠#EEBAFTAs @EE pic.twitter.com/YX4hOVAHMo
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) April 11, 2021
It’s been a weird awards season, and it’s things like this — and the nominees slate in general — that make you feel really positive about film. Now, if only the Oscars can stick the landing…
Here are the full winners of the 2021 Baftas:
BEST FILM
Nomadland
BEST DIRECTOR
Chloe Zhao — Nomadland
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
Promising Young Woman
LEADING ACTOR
Anthony Hopkins — The Father
LEADING ACTRESS
Frances McDormand — Nomadland
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Daniel Kaluuya — Judas and the Black Messiah
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Youn Yuh-jung — Minari
EE RISING STAR AWARD
Bukky Bakray
OUTSTANDING BRITISH DEBUT
Remi Weekes (writer/director) — His House
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Another Round
DOCUMENTARY
My Octopus Teacher
ANIMATED FILM
Soul
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Promising Young Woman
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Father
ORIGINAL SCORE
Soul
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Nomadland
EDITING
Sound of Metal
COSTUME DESIGN
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Mank
MAKE-UP AND HAIR
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
SOUND
Sound of Metal
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Tenet
CASTING
Rocks
BRITISH SHORT FILM
The Present
BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
The Owl and the Pussycat
OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA
Noel Clarke
BAFTA FELLOWSHIP
Ang Lee