The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) held its annual award ceremony Sunday, celebrating the best films of the past year in what many consider to be Britain’s equivalent of The Oscars. Sam Mendes’ 1917 was the top winner of the evening, garnering seven awards from nine nominations. The British war drama took home the top prize of the evening with its win for Best Film, additionally earning Best British Film, Best Director for Mendes, Best Cinematography for Roger Deakins, Best Production Design, Best Sound, and Best Special Visual Effects.
Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite also found success in the evening, winning Best Film Not in the English Langauge and Best Original Screenplay. As the first-ever Korean film to receive a nomination for Best Picture at The Oscars, Parasite‘s BAFTA gains surely won’t hurt its chances this upcoming weekend.
The night’s other big winners included Todd Phillips’ Joker, which took home awards for Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix, Best Original Score, and Best Casting. Phoenix was especially lauded for his acceptance speech, in which he called out the lack of diversity in this year’s nominees. Citing how the major acting categories failed to nominate a single person of color, as well as having all-male list of Best Director nominees, Phoenix stated that the industry “send[s] a very clear message to people of color that you’re not welcome here.” While calling out systemic racism, the actor also called for increased inclusion in the future, naming it an “obligation of the people that have created and perpetuate and benefit from a system of oppression to be the ones that dismantle it,” before ending with, “That’s on us.”
To see which films additionally win big at the upcoming Academy Awards, tune in to the 92nd Oscars this Sunday, Feb. 9, at 8 PM EST on ABC.
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