What the BAFTAs mean for the Oscars

Edward Berger’s acclaimed First World War Netflix drama dominated the night, winning a total of seven BAFTAs, including Best Director and Best Picture.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards often predict the Oscars, as there is some overlap between BAFTA voters and the Academy. And unlike last year, the BAFTA winners (along with next Sunday’s SAG Awards) could affect Oscar voting, which begins March 2 and ends March 7, before the ABC awards on March 12. (All winners can be found here.)

It was a joy to see BAFTA nominees like Danielle Deadwyler (“Till”) actresses Viola Davis and “The Woman King” director Gina Prince-Bythewood smiling on the red carpet Sunday, even if they didn’t take home an award. These days, the BAFTAs use juries to open up their nomination slots to a more diverse pool of talent. But given the opportunity, this year the voters went white and overlooked Oscar favourites, Angela Bassett, Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, among others.

While most Academy voters don’t watch the BAFTAs on Britbox, they do see who wins, and winning momentum always counts. Last year, “The Power of the Dog” won the BAFTA for best film, as well as best director for Jane Campion, who repeated at the Oscars. The eventual Best Picture Oscar winner “CODA” was not a contender for Best Picture, but won Best Adapted Screenplay, just like it did at the Oscars. Paul Thomas Anderson won the BAFTA award for best original screenplay for “Licorice Pizza,” and Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” won best British film, ahead of the original screenplay award at the Oscars.

While last year’s best actress award went to Joanna Scanlan (“After Love”), repeat BAFTA winners at the Oscars included Will Smith (“King Richard”), Ariana DeBose (“West Side Story”) and Troy Kotsur (“CODA”). . “Summer of Soul (or When the Revolution Couldn’t Be Televised)” won Best Documentary BAFTA for Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson ahead of the Oscars, while Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” won Best Non-English Language Film and before the movie. the Oscar for best international film.

The most BAFTA nominations (14) went to Edward Berger’s acclaimed European film All Quiet On The Western Front (Netflix), which dominated the night, winning not only Best Foreign Language Film but a total of seven BAFTA Awards, including Best Director and Best Film, breaking the BAFTA record for most awards won by a non-English language film.

The World War I film opened the awards by winning adapted screenplay for director Edward Berger and British writers Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell, ahead of Oscar-nominated “Living” from London’s Kazuo Ishiguro. (However, the film did not compete with the current Oscar front-runner, Sarah Polley’s Women Talking, which was not nominated for a BAFTA.) The wildly popular German period war film also won the British James Friend Cinematography Award (as expected at the Oscars award), ahead of Oscar nominee “Elvis” and Sound Oscar nominees “Avatar: The Way Of Water,” “Elvis” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” and for Best Score, Oscar-nominated Babylon, The Banshees Of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere At Once.

“All Quiet on the Western Front” has a strong wind in its sails towards the Oscars.

Home favorite “The Banshees of Inisherin” is expected to win the BAFTA with 10 nominations. But the Martin McDonagh film managed just four wins, including a surprise Best Supporting Actor award for Barry Keoghan, who beat his co-star and Oscar nominee Brendan Gleeson and Oscar front-runner Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once “). Supporting Actress (Kerry Condon) beat out Oscar nominees Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”), Hong Chau (“The Whale”) and Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”) and was featured in her acceptance speech . horses and dogs. And McDonagh won Best Original Screenplay for “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “The Fabelmans,” “The Warehouse” and “Triangle Of Sadness” and accepted Outstanding British Film. But that was it.

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 13: (L-R) Colin Farrell and Austin Butler attend the 95th Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon at The Beverly Hilton on February 13, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California.  (Photo: JC Olivera/Getty Images)

Colin Farrell and Austin Butler attend the 95th Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon.

JC Olivera/Getty Images

In the shocker of the night, BAFTA frontrunner Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) lost the lead to fellow Golden Globe winner Austin Butler, who played “Elvis.” This will give Butler a big boost to attend the SAG Awards next week. Catherine Martin also gains momentum in the costume race with her BAFTA win for ‘Elvis’; the film also defeated Academy Award front-runner “The Whale” in the Make Up & Hair category and won the Casting award for a total of four wins.

“Elvis” lost production design to fellow Oscar nominee “Babylon,” the film’s only win of the night.

Here comes Daniels’ American favorite, “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” which took home the coveted DGA award on Saturday. “Everything Everywhere All At Once” star Yeoh, who entered the BAFTAs with 10 nominations, again lost the leading actor award to Australian actress Cate Blanchett, who played the renowned orchestra conductor in Todd Field’s European-flavored “Reservoir,” the film’s only win. because of Like Farrell, Yeoh won in the comedy category at the Globes when he wasn’t in direct competition with his rival. Quan also didn’t win the BAFTA for supporting actor, ruining his sweep. The chaotic action comedy had to settle for one win: Best Editing, ahead of Oscar nominees The Banshees Of Inisherin, Elvis and ‘Top Gun: Maverick’.

It was a good night for Netflix, with a total of eight wins as the animated film took home “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio” over Oscar nominees “Marcel The Shell With Shoes On,” “Puss In Boots: The Last Wish” and “Turning ” in the movie. Red.” This should be repeated on Oscar night.

VFX BAFTA winner James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water is also likely to repeat at the Oscars.

While “Fire of Love” won the DGA documentary prize on Saturday, the BAFTA went to a film that is close in Europe, the politically timely “Navalny,” which beat out Oscar nominees “Fire of Love,” “Everything, that breathes”. and “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” making this category extremely difficult to nominate at the Oscars.

Among the short films, his Oscar-nominated animation The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse brought some momentum, winning the British Short, while the live-action short An Irish Goodbye won the British Short.

Register: Stay up to date with the latest movie and TV news! Subscribe to our email newsletter here.

Add a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *