BAFTAs 2024: Oppenheimer dominates with seven award wins including best film
In a night of glitz, glamour and royal appearances, atomic bomb epic Oppenheimer won seven awards at the 77th British Academy Film Awards, including best picture, best director, and best actor.
Christopher Nolan's direction and Cillian Murphy's gripping performance of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, clinched the respective honours.
During his acceptance speech, Nolan expressed gratitude to Donna Langley, the head of Universal
Pictures, for “letting us take on something quite dark and seeing the potential in that”, whilst Murphy commended Nolan for "seeing something in me that I maybe didn’t see myself”.
Oppenheimer also took home prizes for editing, cinematography and musical score, as well as the best supporting actor prize for Robert Downey Jr.
Yorgos Lanthimos' spellbinding gothic tale Poor Things secured the second most awards of the evening, five in total, including best actress for Emma Stone, production and costume design and visual effects.
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Other winners
Holocaust drama, _ The Zone of Interest,_ a British-produced film shot in Poland with a largely German cast, was named both best British film and best film not in English, a first.
“Walls aren’t new from before or since the Holocaust and it seems stark right now that we should care about innocent people being killed in Gaza or Yemen or Mariupol or Israel,” producer James Wilson said. “Thank you for recognising a film that asks us to think in those spaces.”
Da’Vine Joy Randolph was named best supporting actress for
playing a boarding school cook in The Holdovers and said she felt a “responsibility I don’t take lightly” to tell the stories of underrepresented people like her character Mary.
She added: “This is a movie we made in Boston about three people that came together to form a little family. Mary shows us what is possible when we look beyond our differences.”
The prize for original screenplay, went to French courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall. The film about a woman on trial over the death of her husband was written by director Justine Triet and her partner, Arthur Harari.
Ukraine war documentary 20 Days in Mariupol, produced by The Associated Press and PBS “Frontline,” won the prize for best documentary.
“This is not about us,” said filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov, who captured the harrowing reality of life in the besieged city with an AP team. “This is about Ukraine, about the people of Mariupol.”
Snubs and surprises
Historical epic Killers of the Flower Moon had nine nominations for the awards, officially called the EE BAFTA Film Awards, but went home empty-handed.
Barbie, one half of 2023’s “Barbenheimer” box office juggernaut and the year’s top-grossing film, also went home empty-handed from five nominations.
Greta Gerwig failed to get a directing nomination for either the BAFTAs or the Oscars, in what was seen by many as a major snub.
In his debut as host, David Tennant kicked off the show with an extended-skit featuring Michael
Sheen's dog, Bark Ruffalo.
Sophie Ellis-Bextor graced the stage to perform "Murder On The Dance Floor," which has recently re-gained popularity thanks to Saltburn, while Hannah Waddington delivered an emotionl rendition of "Time After Time" during the in memoriam segment.
The star-studded affair included Prince William among its attendees, who has held the presidency of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts since 2010.
Full list of BAFTA 2024 winners:
Best film - Oppenheimer
Best British film - “The Zone of Interest”
Best director - Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer”
Best actor - Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer” Best actress - Emma Stone,
“Poor Things”
Best supporting actor - Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer”
Best supporting actress - Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”
Rising Star (voted by the public) - Mia McKenna-Bruce
Outstanding British debut - Savannah Leaf, Shirley O’Connor and Medb Riordan, “Earth Mama”
Original screenplay - Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, “Anatomy of a Fall”
Adapted screenplay - Cord Jefferson, “American Fiction”
Best film not in the English language - “The Zone of Interest”
Musical score - Ludwig Goransson, “Oppenheimer”
Cinematography - Hoye van Hoytema, “Oppenheimer“
Editing - Jennifer Lame, “Oppenheimer”
Production design - Shona Heath, James Price and Zsuzsa Mihalek, “Poor Things”
Costume design - Holly Waddington, “Poor Things”
Sound - Johnnie Burn and Tarn Willers, “The Zone of Interest”
Casting - Susan Shopmaker, “The Holdovers”
Visual effects - Simon Hughes, “Poor Things”
Makeup and Hair - Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston, “Poor Things”
Best animated film - “The
Boy and the Heron”
Best British short film - “Jellyfish and Lobster”
Best British short animation - “Crab Day”
Best documentary - “20 Days in Mariupol”
Outstanding British contribution to cinema - Film curator June Givanni
BAFTA fellowship - Samantha
Morton