BAFTA awards can be awarded to cinematographic creations regardless of the nationality of the directors, actors or producers, provided they have been broadcast in the UK in the previous year. However, there are categories specifically dedicated to British creations.
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British-American director Christopher Nolan's biographical drama Oppenheimer (2023) received the British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA) Award for Best Film. This was announced at the 77th UK Film Awards held at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Center in London.
In total, the film, which led the number of nominations, won 7 awards out of 13 for which it was nominated. Thus, he received recognition from the British Academy in the categories “Best Director”, “Best Actor” (Cillian Murphy), “Best Supporting Actor” (Robert Downey Jr.), “Best Music for a film”, “Best Cinematography”, “Best Editing”.
The main prize of the evening – for the best film – was awarded to the American actor Michael J. Fox, star of the trilogy Back to the Future (1985-1990).
In second place in the number of “Bronze Masks” is the film “Poor Things” (2023) by Yorgos Lanthimos. It received five Bronze Masks: for Best Actress (Emma Stone), Best Visual Effects, Best Production Design, Best Costumes, Best Makeup and Hairstyling. The film “Poor Things”, a comedy with film noir accents, tells the story of the character Bella Baxter, a young woman from Victorian London, who is brought back to life by a scientist after her suicide and who then begins a true odyssey of self-discovery.
Other laureates
Best Supporting Actress went to Da'Vine Joy Randolph for her performance in Alexander Payne's comedy The Holdovers (2023).
Britain's Jonathan Glazer's film “Zone of Interest” was awarded three bronze masks: for “Best Film in a Language Other than English”, “Outstanding British Film” and “Best Sound”. The historical drama “The Zone of Interest”, a UK-Poland co-production, is a moving feature film about the daily life of the commandant of the Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz.
Cord Jefferson's American Fiction (2023) won Best Adapted Screenplay, and France's Justine Trieu's drama Anatomy of a Fall (2023) won Best Original Screenplay.
The best animated film was chosen by the Japanese film “The Boy and the Bird” (Kimitachi wa Dou Ikiru ka, 2023) by Hayao Miyazaki.
The film “20 days in Mariupol” (2023) by the Ukrainian director Mstislav Chernov was recognized as the best documentary film.
About the prize
The British Academy of Film, which later merged with the Television Directors and Producers Guild, was founded in 1947, and in 1949, for the first time, it awarded awards to the best films, according to the jury. Since 1955, awards have also been given for the best television programmes.
The first edition of the BAFTA Awards was scheduled for May 29, 1949, at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square, London. The best British film was designated “Odd Man Out”, a film noir made in 1947 by Carol Reed, and the best international film was considered “The Best Years of Our Lives”, an American drama signed by director William Wyler.
The film with the most BAFTA awards won, with 9, remains “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, the western masterpiece directed by George Roy Hill and released in 1969. The film “Ghandi” from 1982, directed by Richard Attenborough, holds the record of nominations, in 16 categories.
The most nominated actors are Michael Caine, Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier, but the record for the most trophies won, in number of five, belongs to Peter Finch. The actresses Judi Dench and Meryl Streep were nominated, each, 15 times. The most awarded actresses at the BAFTA Awards are Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, each with five trophies.
BAFTA traditionally announces the names of its film award winners between the ceremonies of the two main American film awards: the Golden Globes (held on January 7 in Los Angeles) and the Oscars (held in Hollywood on March 10).
This year's ceremony was hosted by British actor David Tennant, and award presenters included actors Andrew Scott, Paul Mescal and former footballer David Beckham.