Conclave Bafta
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'Conclave', which stars Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal corralling conniving clergy as they elect a new pope, beat 'The Brutalist', 'Emilia Pérez', Bob Dylan biopic 'A Complete Unknown' to the top prize. Photo: @BAFTA/X

BAFTA: ‘Conclave’ wins Best Picture award; 'The Brutalist' takes directing, acting prizes

‘The Brutalist’ equalled the awards tally of Conclave, scooping four trophies; Mikey Madison wins Best Actress prize for Brooklyn tragicomedy ‘Anora’


The 78th edition of the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) on Sunday (February 17) saw papal thriller Conclave sweeping four of the top awards including best picture while genre-bending musical Emilia Pérez proved that it's still an awards contender despite a multipronged backlash that looked to have dented its chances.

Adrien Brody adjudged Best Actor

The Brutalist equalled the awards tally of Conclave, scooping four trophies, including best director for Brady Corbet and best actor for Adrien Brody. Mikey Madison won the best actress prize for Brooklyn tragicomedy Anora.

Conclave, which stars Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal corralling conniving clergy as they elect a new pope, beat The Brutalist, Emilia Pérez, Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown to the top prize. Conclave was also named outstanding British film and took trophies for editing and adapted screenplay.

Supporting performer prizes went to Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain and Zoe Saldaña for Emilia Pérez, which also won the award for best film not in the English language.

Also read: How Chandrika Tandon’s spiritual odyssey led to her first Grammy at 71

Supporting performer prizes

Saldaña won for her role as a lawyer who helps the title character transition to a woman and out of a life of crime. She called the film “the creative challenge of a lifetime.” Best actress nominee Karla Sofía Gascón, who stars as the titular transgender ex-cartel boss in Emilia Pérez, wasn't at the ceremony. Gascón has withdrawn from promoting the film, which has 13 Oscar nominations, amid controversy over her social media posts disparaging Muslims, George Floyd and diversity at the Oscars.

Audiard has condemned those comments, but in his acceptance speech thanked Gascón and her co-stars Saldaña and Selena Gomez.

“I am deeply proud of what we have all achieved together," he said.

Prelude to Academy Awards

From the BAFTAs to the Oscars Stars including Cynthia Erivo, Hugh Grant, Ariana Grande, Lupita Nyong'o, Timothée Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan walked the red carpet at London's Royal Festival Hall for the awards, known as BAFTAs.

The prizes will be watched for clues about who will triumph at Hollywood's Academy Awards on March 2, in an unusually hard-to-call awards season.

They also have a distinctly British accent. The ceremony kicked off with its kilt-wearing host, Scottish actor David Tennant, leading the audience in a rousing singalong of The Proclaimers' anthem “I'm Gonna be (500 Miles).”

Culkin's award came for A Real Pain, about odd couple cousins on a trip to explore their roots. The film's writer and co-star, Jesse Eisenberg, took the BAFTA for best original screenplay.

“I'd like to share this with my wife, who didn't come because she didn't think I'd win,” Eisenberg quipped.

Top nominees

Anora, about an exotic dancer entangled with a Russian oligarch's son, had been a best picture favourite after winning the top prizes last week at the Producers Guild Awards and the Directors Guild Awards.

The Brutalist had nine BAFTA nominations, while Anora, the sci-fi epic Dune: Part Two and musical Wicked hade seven each. A Complete Unknown and Irish-language hip-hop drama Kneecap received six nominations apiece.

Also read: Emilia Pérez: France's official Oscar entry is an ode to the agony of gender dysphoria

Brody won over stiff competition from Fiennes and Chalamet, who plays the young Dylan in A Complete Unknown. The other male actors nominated were Grant for his creepy role in the horror film Heretic, Colman Domingo in real-life prison drama Sing Sing and Sebastian Stan for his portrayal of a young Donald Trump in The Apprentice. Stan, who is also Oscar nominated, said it was “incredibly validating” to get recognition for the film, which initially struggled to find an American distributor. It's an origins story that focuses on Trump's relationship with ruthless power broker Roy Cohn, played by Jeremy Strong.

“We were told this was going to be a thankless job that was never going to lead to anything,” Stan said, describing the movie as a “fair” depiction of the president.

Key contenders for Best Actress Award

Best-actress nominees were Madison, Gascón, Demi Moore for body-horror film The Substance, Ronan for The Outrun, Erivo for Wicked and Marianne Jean-Baptiste for the Mike Leigh drama Hard Truths. Erivo or Jean-Baptiste would have been the first non-white performer to win the leading actress BAFTA.

Animated caper Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl won awards for best animated feature and best family and children's film.

Sci-fi epic Dune: Part Two won prizes for sound and visual effects. The Brutalist won for cinematography and musical score. Musical Wicked took the costume and production design trophies.

Watch: Golden Globe 2025 recap: Highlights from Hollywood's biggest night

Rising stars and lifetime honours Britain's film academy introduced changes to increase the awards' diversity in 2020, when no women were nominated as best director for the seventh year running and all 20 nominees in the lead and supporting performer categories were white.

Rising Star Award goes to…

Most winners are chosen by 8,000 members of the UK academy of industry professionals, with one — the Rising Star Award —selected by public vote from a shortlist of nominees. This year's winner was David Jonsson, star of high finance drama series Industry and London rom-com Rye Lane.

“Star, I don't know,” he said. “But rising, I guess.” Willow and Return of the Jedi actor Warwick Davis received the academy's top honor, the BAFTA Fellowship, for his screen career and work to create a more inclusive film industry.

He founded a talent agency for actors under 5 feet tall, because, he said, “short actors weren't known for their talent, just their height.”

BAFTA chairwoman Sara Putt sent a message of strength to everyone hit by last month's devastating Los Angeles wildfires. Jamie Lee Curtis, a supporting actress nominee for “The Last Showgirl,” was absent because the fires delayed filming on her current work.

The event was without a dash of royal glamour this year. Neither Prince William, who is honorary president of the British film academy, nor his wife Kate are attending. The awards coincide with school holidays for their three children.

Also read: Golden Globes: 'The Brutalist', 'Emilia Perez', 'Shogun' win big; Demi Moore bags best actor

William, 42, sent a recorded video message that was played before the presentation of the Rising Star Award.

(With inputs from agencies)


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