The dark and psychological western The Power of the Dog was crowned, on Sunday March 13, best film at the Bafta, the British film awards, and earned New Zealander Jane Campion the prize for best director. This Netflix production, also nominated in the best film category for the Oscars on March 28, won ahead of Belfast, Don’t Look Up!, Dunes and Licorice Pizza.
With eight nominations, the New Zealander’s film entered the ceremony in a strong position two weeks before the Oscars. Presented at the Venice Film Festival in September, where the director was awarded, the western has since won the Golden Globe for best dramatic film and Jane Campion for best direction.
She becomes the third woman to win the Bafta for best director after China’s Chloé Zhao (nomadland) last year, and American Kathryn Bigelow (Minesweepers in 2009). The New Zealander was absent for the ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall in London, but her producer Tanya Seghatchian paid tribute to her, calling her a “visionary who has marked the last thirty years of cinema”.
American Will Smith won Best Actor for his role in The Williams Method – directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green –, where he plays the father and coach of tennis champions Serena and Venus Williams. The 53-year-old actor, also in the running for the Oscar for best actor, won ahead of Adeel Akhtar, Mahershala Ali, Benedict Cumberbatch, Leonardo DiCaprio and Stephen Graham.
The English Joanna Scanlan, meanwhile, won the prize for best actress for her portrayal of a wife discovering the secrets of her deceased husband in After Love, by director Aleem Khan. The 60-year-old actress wins ahead of Lady Gaga, Alana Haim, Emilia Jones, Renate Reinsve and Tessa Thompson.
A middle finger for Putin
After an awards ceremony without an audience last year due to the pandemic, it was the war in Ukraine that marked this 75and Bafta ceremony. The Russian invasion “shocked the world with images and stories recounting a truly horrific and heartbreaking situation”said the president of the British Academy, Krishnendu Majumdar, at the start of the ceremony.
The Bafta and other film academies in Europe stand alongside Ukraine and “we share the hope of a return to peace”he added.
On the red carpet, some stars wore badges or ribbons in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, including actor Benedict Cumberbatch who claimed “do what he could” to house refugees from Ukraine, after the British government called on residents on Sunday to welcome Ukrainians into their homes.
Presenting the prize for best director, Andy Serkis criticized the British interior minister, Priti Patel, for the management of the crisis, ironically believing that the last film of Mme Patel “‘All refugees are welcome but some are more welcome than others’ is total hell”.
Australian actress Rebel Wilson, who presented the ceremony, for her part gave the finger of honor to Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Fortunately, in all sign languages, it’s a gesture for Putin”, she claimed, introducing Emilia Jones who was singing dubbed in sign language. Emilia Jones was nominated for Best Actress for her performance in CODA, of a teenager passionate about music, the only hearing person in a deaf family.
Disappointment for “Dune”
This American remake of the French film The Aries Family has also entered the history of the Bafta, Troy Kotsur becoming the first deaf actor to win a prize there, that of the best male supporting role.
“I think it’s great that you recognize my work from across the ocean, it’s really amazing”he reacted by receiving his prize, his interpreter by his side.
Disappointment for Dunes, adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel by Denis Villeneuve, which did not win any of the most prestigious awards. The space opera had amassed eleven nominations (the record this year) and leaves London with five awards, notably for special effects, original music and cinematography.
Also nominated for Best Picture, Belfastin which Kenneth Branagh pays homage to his hometown by retracing the journey of a kid from Northern Ireland traumatized by the civil war and who finds refuge in the cinema, walks away with the prize for best British film.
Among the other awards given, American actress Ariana Debose won the Bafta for Best Supporting Actress for West Side Storywhile Drive My Carby Japanese Ryusuke Hamaguchi, won the prize for best foreign language film.
Named in particular for the best film and the best direction, the teenage chronicle Licorice Pizzaby Paul Thomas Anderson walks away with the prize for best original screenplay.