The BAFTAs: Britain’s Oscar counterpart

12 Years a Slave wins award as Gravity sweeps the rest of the categories.

LONDON: Stars descended on Covent Garden in London for the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), which come two weeks before the Academy Awards and are widely seen as indicators of Oscar success.  British writer-comedian Stephen Fry hosted the ceremony for the ninth time.

On the red carpet ahead of the ceremony, the most watched film awards outside the United States, stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks and Britons Judi Dench and Emma Thompson mingled with fans. Britain’s Prince William arrived last, chatting to the crowd gathered outside the theatre on a cold, dry evening.

The harrowing drama 12 Years a Slave won the Best Film award at Britain’s top movie honours on Sunday, cementing its status as favourite for the Oscars next month, but it was the space thriller Gravity that claimed the biggest trophy haul.

12 Years a Slave, by British director Steve McQueen with Hollywood’s Brad Pitt as a producer, had been tipped as the night’s major winner, and also won Best Actor for Chiwetel Ejiofor as a man tricked and sold into slavery in the pre-Civil War United States.

McQueen, 44, said it was horrifying that 21 million people were still living in slavery around the world now.”I hope that, 150 years from now, our ambivalence will not allow another filmmaker to make this film,” he told the ceremony at London’s Royal Opera House.

Brad Pitt said he was proud of the film, based on the real story of Solomon Northup. “It is a story that says we are all the same and our freedom and dignity is everything, and that is what we are fighting for,” Pitt told a news conference.

The biggest winner of the night was Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, and took home six prizes from its 11 nominations, including the Best Director prize for Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron, and the awards for Cinematography and Outstanding British Film.

Vying for the Best Actor prize alongside winner Ejiofor, were Christian Bale in American Hustle, Bruce Dern in Nebraska, DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s tale of American greed The Wolf of Wall Street, and Tom Hanks in Captain Phillips. Matthew McConaughey’s performance in the Dallas Buyers Club was not recognized with a BAFTA nomination this year, nor was the favourite to win the Best Supporting Actor Oscar Jared Leto nominated for the same film.

DiCaprio said it had taken seven years and a lot of luck to get The Wolf of Wall Street to the big screens.

“This is the second film in my career that I really got behind and did everything I could to get made. This is a very proud moment for me,” he said.

The Best Actress award went to Australian Cate Blanchett for playing a riches-to-rags socialite in Woody Allen’s tragicomedy Blue Jasmine. She beat Amy Adams from American Hustle, Emma Thompson in Saving Mr. Banks, Judi Dench in Philomena and Bullock in Gravity. Blanchett, 44, dedicated her award to the actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died of an apparent drugs overdose two weeks ago.

Barkhad Abdi was named Best Supporting Actor for his role in Captain Phillips, but does not have a corresponding Oscar nomination. The BAFTA’s also recognized Daniel Brühl’s astounding and overlooked performance as Niki Lauda in Rush with a nomination in the same category. The award for Best Supporting Actress went to Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle, a con-artist caper set in the 1970s. REUTERs

Here’s a complete list of the winners, according to Just Jared 

2014 BAFTAs Winners

Director: Alfonso Cuarón — Gravity

Lead Actor: Chiwetel Ejiofor — 12 Years a Slave

Lead Actress: Cate Blanchett — Blue Jasmine

Supporting Actor: Barkhad Abdi — Captain Phillips

Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence — American Hustle

Original Music: Steven Price — Gravity

Outstanding British Film: Gravity

Adapted Screenplay: Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope — Philomena

Documentary: The Act of Killing

Animated Film: Frozen

Original Screenplay: Eric Warren Singer, David O Russell — American Hustle

Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki — Gravity

Editing: Dan Hanley, Mike Hill — Rush

Production Design: Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn — The Great Gatsby

Costume Design: Catherine Martin — The Great Gatsby

Make Up & Hair: Evelyne Noraz, Lori McCoy-Bell — American Hustle

Sound: Glenn Freemantle, Skip Lievsay, Christopher Benstead, Niv Adiri, Chris Munro — Gravity

Special Visual Effects: Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, Neil Corbould, Nikki Penny — Gravity

British Short Animation: Sleeping With the Fishes

British Short Film: Room 8

EE Rising Star Award: Will Poulter

You can see the pictures of Red carpet moments at BAFTAs 2013 here

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2014.

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