'The Power of the Dog', 'Dune' triumph at BAFTA Awards

Prior scooped the top two honours on Sunday, winning best film and director, while latter picked up the most prizes.

LONDON:

The British Academy Film Awards returned as a glitzy in-person event on Sunday, with stars including Lady Gaga and Benedict Cumberbatch walking the red carpet at London's Royal Albert Hall.

Australian actor and comedian Rebel Wilson hosted this year's ceremony, known as the BAFTAs (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), following a virtual event last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Science fiction epic Dune, a mammoth adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel, led nominations with 11 nods, mainly in the creative and technical categories. Dark Western The Power of the Dog followed with eight nominations and Belfast, Kenneth Brannagh's semi-autobiographical black and white comedy drama set at the onset of Northern Ireland's three decades of conflict, garnered six.

All three competed with coming-of-age tale Licorice Pizza and Don't Look Up, a humorous warning about climate change, for the top prize of the night, best film. Singer Shirley Bassey opened the show, performing a James Bond movie theme in honour of the film franchise's 60^th anniversary.

Not all nominees were present, with The Power of the Dog director Jane Campion and Will Smith, in the running for leading actor for playing the father of tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard, among those absent.

Nominees for Leading Actresses were Lady Gaga House of Gucci, Alana Haim Licorice Pizza, Emilia Jones CODA, Renate Reinsve The Worst Person in the World, Joanna Scanlan After Love and Tessa Thompson Passing. Leading actor nominees also include Cumberbatch The Power of the Dog, Leonardo DiCaprio Don't Look Up, Adeel Akhtar Ali & Ava, Mahershala Ali Swan Song and Stephen Graham Boiling Point.

Half of the best director nominees this year were women: Campion for The Power of the Dog, Audrey Diwan for Happening, a French drama about illegal abortion in the 1960s, and Julia Ducournau for body horror Titane. Aleem Khan After Love, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi Drive My Car and Paul Thomas Anderson Licorice Pizza completed the list.

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