The British Academy of Film and Television Arts celebrated the BAFTA Awards on March 13, in a special gala for the 75th anniversary of the award ceremony and because now it was in person and the movie stars paraded on the red carpet. This ceremony is part of the final stretch of the awards season for film productions, which culminates with the Oscars on March 27.
Nominated actors like Benedict Cumberbatch and Lady Gaga are among the stars walking the red carpet at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Last year the event was held largely online, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In this edition, Will Smith, who was in Guatemala a few weeks ago where he shared with the children and neighbors of Antigua Guatemala, Sacatepéquez, won the award for best leading actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams, father of the Williams sisters, in “KingRichard.”
The actor, who had been nominated for the first time at the British Film Academy Awards, adds this Bafta to the Golden Globe he won a few weeks ago and takes the lead in the race for the Oscar, for which he is also nominated at the Best Leading Actor category.
Smith beat Adeel Akhtar, nominated for Ali & Ava; Mahershala Ali, for Swan Song; Leonardo DiCaprio, for Don’t Look Up; Stephen Graham for Boling Point and Benedict Cumberbatch for The Power of the Dog. However, he was not present at the Royal Albert Hall ceremony and did not collect the award from him, announced by Salma Hayek.
Joanna Scanlan won the Bafta for Best Leading Actress for her portrayal of Mary Hussain in the film After Love.
“There are some stories that have unexpected endings,” he continued. “Many thanks to the director of this film, to the actors, to the producers. This film was made with a lot of love, but also with blood, sweat, and tears”, said the actress. “I also want to thank my husband for this award. It is living proof that there is nothing after love,” she added.
Best film
Although Dune was said to be the favorite, with eleven nominations, The Power of the Dog was crowned best film at the Bafta ceremony, while its producer, Jane Campion, won the award for best direction, becoming the third woman who gets the statuette for best direction. The entire cast, as well as the production members, went to collect the statuette. Among them were Benedict Cumberbatch, the film’s star; Jonny Greenwood, guitarist for Radiohead and composer of the soundtrack; Kodi Smit-Mcphee, nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and producer Tanya Seghatchian, who spoke to Campion.
“You’ve been telling stories for thirty years. Stories of women seeking to find their voices, stories of misfits, of people who have not been represented. Thank you so much for all your work,” she said.
Enchantment as best animated film
The animated musical about a peculiar family from Colombia won for the best-animated film. Luca, Flee, and The Mitchells vs. were also nominated in this category. The Machines. “Thank you Bafta for this, it was a dream to create a film like this since I was little. Bring together in a story people with different personalities, different skin colors. Whose voices are heard,” said Yvette Merino, producer. Encanto will arrive at the next Oscars on March 28, with three nominations: Best Animated Film, Best Song and Best Soundtrack.