The BAFTAs 2021
With a global pandemic disrupting but not derailing the year’s awards season railway, the golden statue express made its delayed penultimate major stop in London this weekend for the biggest night(s) in the British film calendar, as the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) gathered the great and the good of British and global cinema for the 74th British Academy Film Awards.
Like many other shows over the last twelve months the BAFTAs were a hybrid affair combining a selection of live hosts and a televised spectacle from the Royal Albert Hall and further afield with virtual nominees and winners, and of course no real audience. But the British academy decided to take this year’s oddity a step further by splitting the ceremony over two evenings of the weekend, with the technical awards being dished out on Saturday and the principal gongs going out on the traditional Sunday show.
The issue of diversity and representation was unsurprisingly once again a major talking point only this year it was positively spun as the academy reacted to previous criticism to tweak their selection process and deliver the most diverse set of nominations in their history. The result was a relatively open field with no clear frontrunner but with Chloé Zhao’s soulful road movie meditation on modern America ‘Nomadland’ and Sarah Gavron’s realist British coming-of-age drama ‘Rocks’ just about leading the nominations—albeit in the most undersubscribed year in history thanks to the ravaging effects of COVID-19 on the industry and its release slate.
Although we can endlessly and subjectively debate over who should have won what and who was ‘snubbed’ with the nominations to begin with, let’s celebrate all the films recognised over the last bizarre twelve months as we recap the night’s big winners and nominees . . . and our own personal picks.
Best Film
Image Source: Searchlight
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‘Nomadland’ (Winner)
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‘The Father’
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‘The Mauritanian’
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‘Promising Young Woman’
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‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’
Our pick from the nominees: ‘Nomadland’
Our pick overall: ‘Supernova’
Outstanding British Film
Image Source: Universal
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‘Promising Young Woman’ (Winner)
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‘Calm with Horses’
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‘The Dig’
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‘The Father’
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‘His House’
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‘Limbo’
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‘The Mauritanian’
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‘Mogul Mowgli’
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‘Rocks’
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‘Saint Maud’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Saint Maud’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Saint Maud’
Director
Image Source: Searchlight
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Chloe Zhao for ‘Nomadland’ (Winner)
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Lee Isaac Chung for ‘Minari’
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Sarah Gavron for ‘Rocks’
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Shannon Murphy for ‘Babyteeth’
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Thomas Vinterberg for ‘Another Round’
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Jasmila Žbanić for ‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’
Our pick from the nominees: Chloe Zhao for ‘Nomadland’
Our pick overall: David Fincher for ‘Mank’
Leading Actor
Image Source: Lionsgate
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Anthony Hopkins for ‘The Father’ (Winner)
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Chadwick Boseman for ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’
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Riz Ahmed for ‘Sound of Metal’
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Adarsh Gourav in ‘The White Tiger’
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Mads Mikkelsen in ‘Another Round’
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Tahar Rahim in ‘The Mauritanian’
Our pick from the nominees: Anthony Hopkins in ‘The Father’
Our pick overall: Anthony Hopkins in ‘The Father’
Leading Actress
Image Source: Searchlight
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Frances McDormand in ‘Nomadland’ (Winner)
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Bukky Bakray in ‘Rocks’
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Radha Blank in ‘The 40-Year-Old Version’
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Vanessa Kirby in ‘Pieces of a Woman’
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Wunmi Mosaku in ‘His House’
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Alfre Woodard in ‘Clemency’
Our pick from the nominees: Frances McDormand in ‘Nomadland’
Our pick overall: Frances McDormand in ‘Nomadland’
Supporting Actor
Image Source: Warner
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Daniel Kaluuya in ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ (Winner)
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Barry Keoghan in ‘Calm with Horses’
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Alan Kim in ‘Minari’
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Leslie Odom Jr. in ‘One Night in Miami’
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Clarke Peters in ‘Da 5 Bloods’
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Paul Raci in ‘Sound of Metal’
Our pick from the nominees: Daniel Kaluuya for ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’
Our pick overall: Kingsley Ben-Adir for ‘One Night in Miami’
Supporting Actress
Image Source: A24
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Yuh-jung Youn in ‘Minari’ (Winner)
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Kosar Ali in ‘Rocks’
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Niamh Algar in ‘Calm with Horses’
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Maria Bakalova in ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’
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Dominique Fishback in ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’
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Ashley Madekwe in ‘County Lines’
Our pick from the nominees: Yuh-jung Youn in ‘Minari’
Our pick overall: Olivia Colman in ‘The Father’
Adapted Screenplay
Image Source: Lionsgate
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‘The Father’ by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller (Winner)
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‘The Dig’ by Moira Buffini
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‘The Mauritanian’ by Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani and M.B. Traven
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‘Nomadland’ by Chloé Zhao
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‘The White Tiger’ by Ramin Bahrani
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Nomadland’ by Chloé Zhao
Our Pick Overall: ‘Nomadland’ by Chloé Zhao
Original Screenplay
Image Source: Universal
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‘Promising Young Woman’ by Emerald Fennell (Winner)
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‘Another Round’ by Tobias Lindholm and Thomas Vinterberg
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‘Mank’ by Jack Fincher
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‘Rocks’ by Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson
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‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’ by Aaron Sorkin
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Mank’ by Jack Fincher
Our Pick Overall: ‘Mank’ by Jack Fincher
Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
Image Source: Netflix
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Remi Weekes for ‘His House’ (Winner)
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Rose Glass and Oliver Kassman for ‘Saint Maud’
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Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson for ‘Rocks’
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Ben Sharrock and Irune Gurtubai for ‘Limbo’
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Jack Sidey for ‘Moffie’
Our Pick from the Nominees: Rose Glass and Oliver Kassman for ‘Saint Maud’
Our Pick Overall: Rose Glass and Oliver Kassman for ‘Saint Maud’
EE Rising Star award (public vote)
Image Source: Altitude
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Bukky Bakray (Winner)
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Kingsley Ben-Adir
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Morfydd Clark
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Sope Dirisu
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Conrad Khan
Our Pick from the Nominees: Kingsley Ben-Adir
Our Pick Overall: Kingsley Ben-Adir
Original Score
Image Source: Disney
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‘Soul’ by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross & Jon Batiste (Winner)
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‘Mank’ by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
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‘Minari’ by Emile Mosseri
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‘News of the World’ by James Newton Howard
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‘Promising Young Woman’ by Anthony Willis
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Soul’ by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross & Jon Batiste
Our Pick Overall: ‘Soul’ by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross & Jon Batiste
Cinematography
Image Source: Searchlight
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‘Nomadland’ by Joshua James Richards (Winner)
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‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ by Sean Bobbitt
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‘Mank’ by Erik Messerschmidt
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‘The Mauritanian’ by Alwin H. Küchler
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‘News of the World’ by Dariusz Wolski
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Nomadland’ by Joshua James Richards
Our Pick Overall: ‘Nomadland‘ by Joshua James Richards
Animated Film
Image Source: Disney
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‘Soul’ (Winner)
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‘Onward’
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‘Wolfwalkers’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Soul’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Soul’
Documentary
Image Source: Netflix
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‘My Octopus Teacher’ (Winner)
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‘Collective’
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‘David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet’
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‘The Dissident’
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‘The Social Dilemma’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Collective’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Collective’
Film not in the English Language
Image Source: StudioCanal
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‘Another Round’ (Winner)
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‘Dear Comrades!’
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‘Les Misérables’
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‘Minari’
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‘Quo Vadis, Aida?’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Another Round’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Another Round’
Editing
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‘Sound of Metal’ (Winner)
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‘The Father’
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‘Nomadland’
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‘Promising Young Woman’
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‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Sound of Metal’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Mank’
Production Design
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‘Mank’ (Winner)
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‘The Dig’
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‘The Father’
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‘News of the World’
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‘Rebecca’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Mank’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Mank’
Costume Design
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‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ (Winner)
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‘Ammonite’
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‘The Dig’
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‘Emma’
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‘Mank’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Mank’
Our Pick Overall: ‘One Night in Miami…’
Make Up & Hair
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‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ (Winner)
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‘The Dig’
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‘Hillbilly Elegy’
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‘Mank’
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‘Pinocchio’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’
Sound
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‘Sound of Metal’ (Winner)
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‘Greyhound’
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‘News of the World’
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‘Nomadland’
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‘Soul’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Sound of Metal’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Tenet’
Special Visual Effects
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‘Tenet’ (Winner)
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‘Greyhound’
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‘The Midnight Sky’
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‘Mulan’
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‘The One and Only Ivan’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Tenet’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Tenet’
Casting
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‘Rocks’ (Winner)
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‘Calm with Horses’
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‘Judas and the Black Messiah’
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‘Minari’
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‘Promising Young Woman’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Minari’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Minari’
Honorary Awards
BAFTA Fellowship
Image Source: BAFTA
Ang Lee
Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema
Image Source: Rex
Noel Clarke
So there you have it, ‘Nomadland’ just about leads an open field by taking four awards including the big one, while the diversity and representation of the nominations translated into wins with female filmmakers Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell taking home several of the night’s biggest prizes, and talent of every background nabbing the rest. Onward now to the final stops on the award season railway which culminates at the Academy Awards in two weeks, let’s see how their choices stack up with their British counterparts.
Let us know what you think of the BAFTAs this year and what your picks were, here and on Twitter and Facebook.
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