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The Baftas, the British film industry’s gala night, brought its usual heady mix of starriness, celebration and creaky gags to the Royal Albert Hall last night. Surprises were slightly thin on the ground but there were some groundbreaking winners and some cheerable moments to enjoy.
Who won at the Baftas last night?
We had a bit of a grump over a nomination list that omitted Olivia Colman for her stonking turn in The Lost Daughter and shut out The Souvenir Part II entirely. But it was hard to pick holes in the winners list. As expected, Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog won Best Film, Campion won Best Director and Will Smith picked up Best Actor for King Richard, pipping the hotly tipped Benedict Cumberbatch.
In fact, there were good news stories wherever you looked on the winners’ roster: whether it was Questlove winning Best Documentary for his debut film, Summer of Soul, or Joanna Scanlan’s magnetic turn in After Love being recognised with a Best Actress award, or Troy Kotsur becoming the first deaf actor to win one of the main acting categories for CODA. And the openly queer Ariana DeBose followed up her SAG win for West Side Story with a Best Supporting Actress Bafta.
Who were the other Bafta winners of note?
Denis Villeneuve’s thunderous sci-fi epic Dune pretty much cleaned up in the technical categories, winning for production design, VFX, cinematography, sound, costume design and score. The EE Rising Star Award, voted for by the British public, went to west London’s own Lashana Lynch for her breakout turn in No Time to Die and, to an extent, her eye-catching work on stage and TV with eye for eye.
What were the other Bafta highlights?
Rebel Wilson’s hosting had its ups (a zinger about Prince Andrew, handing out a bin bag full of her old bras) and downs (a joke about Will Smith’s marriage, most of the rest of it). Steadier hands were provided by Shirley Bassey, who delivered a showstopping ‘Diamonds Are Forever’, and CODA’s Emilia Jones doing likewise with Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides Now’. Well, she is the daughter of Welsh chorister Aled Jones.
A special performance from @EmiliaJonesy of Both Sides Now, from the BAFTA-nominated CODA ✨ #EEBAFTAs pic.twitter.com/xr2ie8IIeM
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) March 13, 2022
What was the biggest Bafta oversight?
The winners were a pretty unimpeachable bunch, overall, although it was disappointing that the original and inspiring docu-animation Flee wasn’t recognised for either its ‘docu’ or its ‘animation’ elements. Not that Summer of Soul or Encanto, the winners, were dud choices, only that this film speaks to the present moment in all kinds of powerful ways.
How did the Londoners do at the Baftas?
It was a mixed night for hometown nominees: Cumberbatch missed out for his towering performance as a toxic cowboy in The Power of the Dog and the very London-centric Last Night in Soho and Boiling Point both missed out to Belfast in the Best British Film category. But the hugely popular Jeymes Samuel delivered for Kilburn, with his debut western The Harder They Fall winning Best British Debut, and the public love for west London’s Lashana Lynch drove her to glory in the Rising Star category.
Here are the winners in full:
Best Film
The Power of the Dog
Belfast
Don’t Look Up
Dune
Licorice Pizza
Best British Film
After Love
Ali & Ava
Belfast
Boiling Point
Cyrano
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
House of Gucci
Last Night in Soho
No Time to Die
Passing
Best director
Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog
Aleem Khan – After Love
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi – Drive My Car
Audrey Diwan – Happening
Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza
Julia Ducournau –Titane
Leading Actress
Joanna Scanlan – After Love
Lady Gaga – House of Gucci
Alana Haim – Licorice Pizz
Emilia Jones – CODA
Renate Reinsve – The Worst Person in the World
Tessa Thompson – Passing
Leading Actor
Adeel Akhtar – Ali & Ava
Mahershala Ali – Swan Song
Will Smith – King Richard
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog
Leonardo DiCaprio – Don’t Look Up
Stephen Graham – Boiling Point
Supporting Actress
Caitríona Balfe – Belfast
Jessie Buckley – The Lost Daughter
Ariana DeBose – West Side Story
Ann Dowd – Mass
Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard
Ruth Negga – Passing
Supporting Actor
Troy Kotsur, CODA
Mike Faist – West Side Story
Ciarán Hinds – Belfast
Woody Norman – C’mon C’mon
Jesse Plemons – The Power of the Dog
Kodi Smitt-McPhee – The Power of the Dog
Outstanding British Debut
After Love
Boiling Point
The Harder They Fall
Keyboard Fantasies
Passing
Film Not in the English Language
Drive My Car
The Hand of God
Parallel Mothers
Petite Maman
The Worst Person in the World
Best documentary
Summer of Soul
Becoming Costeau
Cow
Flee
The Rescue
Animated Film
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs the Machines
Original Screenplay
Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza
Aaron Sorkin, Being the Ricardos
Kenneth Branagh, Belfast
Adam McKay, Don’t Look Up
Zach Baylin, King Richard
Adapted Screenplay
Siân Heder, CODA
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi – Drive My Car
Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts – Denis Villeneuve, Dune
Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter
Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog
EE Rising Star Award
Lashana Lynch
Other categories
Original Score – Dune
Cinematography – Dune
Casting – West Side Story
Editing – No Time to Die
Production Design – Dune
Costume Design – Cruella
Makeup and Hair – The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Sound – Dune
VFX – Dune
British Short Animation – Do Not Feed the Pigeons
British Short Film – The Black Cop