Oppenheimer wins seven prizes; Poor Things takes home five

Atom bomb epic Oppenheimer won seven prizes, including best picture, director and actor, at the 77th British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, cementing its front-runner status for the Oscars next month. Poor Things took five prizes and Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest won three.

Christopher Nolan won his first Best Director BAFTA for Oppenheimer, and Cillian Murphy won the Best Actor prize for playing physicist J Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.

Murphy said he was grateful to play such a “colossally knotty, complex character.” Emma Stone was named Best Actress for playing the wild and spirited Bella Baxter in Poor Things, a steampunk-style visual extravaganza that won prizes for visual effects, production design, costume design, and makeup and hair.

Oppenheimer also won trophies for editing, cinematography and musical score, as well as the Best Supporting Actor prize for Robert Downey Jr

Da’Vine Joy Randolph was named best supporting actress for playing a boarding school cook in The Holdovers.

The Zone of Interest — a British-produced film shot in Poland with a largely German cast — was named both best British film and best film not in English — a first — and also took the prize for its sound, which has been described as the real star of the film.

Ukraine war documentary 20 Days in Mariupol, produced by The Associated Press and PBS Frontline, won the prize for best documentary.

The awards ceremony, hosted by Doctor Who star David Tennant — who entered wearing a kilt and sequined top while carrying a dog named Bark Ruffalo — was a glitzy, British-accented appetizer for Hollywood’s Academy Awards, closely watched for hints about who might win at the Oscars on March 10.

The prize for original screenplay went to French courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall. Cord Jefferson won the adapted screenplay prize for the satirical American Fiction. The historical epic Killers of the Flower Moon had nine nominations for the awards, officially called the EE BAFTA Film Awards, but went home empty-handed.

There also was disappointment for Leonard Bernstein’s biopic Maestro, which had seven nominations but won no awards. Neither did the grief-flecked love story All of Us Strangers with six nominations, and barbed class-war dramedy Saltburn, with five.

Barbie, one-half of 2023’s ‘Barbenheimer’ box office juggernaut and the year’s top-grossing film, also went home empty-handed from five nominations. Barbie director Greta Gerwig failed to get a directing nomination for either the BAFTAs or the Oscars, in what was seen by many as a major snub.

The Rising Star award, the only category decided by public vote, went to Mia McKenna-Bruce, star of How to Have Sex. — AP & Agencies 

HERE’ A LIST OF WINNERS

Best Film Oppenheimer

Best Director Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)

Best Leading Actress Emma Stone ( Poor Things)

Best Leading Actor Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)

Best Supporting Actress Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

Best Supporting Actor Robert Downey Jr (Oppenheimer)

Outstanding British Film The Zone of Interest

Film not in the English language The Zone of Interest

Best Animated Film The Boy and the Heron

Best Documentary 20 Days In Mariupol

Best Original Screenplay Anatomy of a Fall

Best Adapted Screenplay American Fiction

Best Original Score Oppenheimer

Best Make-up and Hair Poor Things

Best Costume Design Poor Things

Best Production Design Poor Things

Best Sound The Zone of Interest

Best Cinematography Oppenheimer

Best Editing Oppenheimer

Best Casting The Holdovers

Best Special Visual Effects Poor Things

Best British Short Animation Crab Day

Best British Short Film Jellyfish and Lobster

Best Bafta Fellowship Samantha Morton

Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema June Givanni

EE Rising Star Award (voted for by the public) Mia McKenna-Bruce

Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer Earth Mama – Savanah Leaf (writer, director, producer), Shirley O’Connor (producer), Medb Riordan (producer)

Holy moly

Cillian Murphy started his acceptance speech with the words: “Oh boy! Holy moly.” He then applauded Nolan and producer Emma Thomas, saying, “Thanks for seeing something in me that I didn’t see in myself.” He described them as his ‘Oppen-homies’.

Nolan breaks his BAFTA ‘curse’

Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan finally won a BAFTA trophy, two as a matter of fact, on Sunday, breaking what some admirers had lovingly described as a “curse”. “They are very heavy,” Nolan told the press after the BAFTA ceremony, holding the two trophies. “I feel like I am getting a workout.”

Deepika sizzles in Sabyasachi sari

Deepika Padukone presented the honour of Best Film not in English language to Jonathan Glazer for The Zone of Interest at the BAFTA Awards. The actress looked every inch gorgeous as she took the spotlight dressed in a silver shimmery sequined saree with a matching blouse by ace couturier Sabyasachi at the event.

They aced the red carpet look

It was raining stars at the BAFTA 2024 red carpet as names such as Margot Robbie, Emma Stone, Cillian Murphy and Emily Blunt, among many others, brought in their stylish foot forward. Robbie chose a pink-and-white strapless look, while Stone wore an orange Poor Things-esque dress and Blunt sported a sheer frock. ‘Ken’ Ryan Gosling chose an all-white number with red detailing. Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper were seen twinning in black as they posed for the shutterbugs. Robert Downey Jr. was seen flaunting his fashion A-game, as he chose a grey ensemble paired with a black T-shirt. Emily Blunt shimmered in a nude dress with detailed work. Singer Dua Lipa served one of the best red carpet looks. The Levitating hitmaker opted for a floor-length red gown with a red cape.

Mathew Perry will be honoured

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has confirmed that Matthew Perry will be honoured at its TV awards later this year following backlash over his omission from the In Memoriam segment of the film awards night. The segment also paid tribute to Tina Turner, who was commemorated as both an actor and singer.

I say ‘wahter’, You say ‘wart-ter’

Emma in her acceptance speech Emma Stone thanked her mother for giving her life and her Poor Things screenwriter Tony McNamara for the line “I must go punch that baby”. “I was playing a British person in this movie and (Neil) did not laugh at me when he taught me how to say ‘wart-ter,’ even though as an American I say ‘wahter,’” Stone quipped.

‘Let’s keep fighting’

Journalist Mstyslav Chernov, director of 20 Days in Mariupol, who took home the trophy for best documentary, said, “This is not about us. This is about the people of Ukraine … the story of Mariupol is a symbol of everything that has happened, a symbol of struggle, a symbol of faith.” The director ended his acceptance speech by declaring, “Let’s keep fighting.”

Robert Downey Jr. thanks ‘that dude’

Robert Downey Jr, who took home the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Oppenheimer, gave a shout out to “that dude” Christopher Nolan. He said, “Recently, that dude Chris Nolan suggested I attempt an understated approach as a last-ditch effort to perhaps resurrect my dwindling credibility. So, I share this with my fellow nominees.”

Prince William attends without Kate Middleton

Prince William arrived at the 2024 BAFTA Film Awards ceremony at London’s Royal Festival Hall. Prince William has been president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts since 2010. However, his wife Kate Middleton was missing from the ceremony as she had recently returned home after undergoing abdominal surgery.