BAFTAs 2021: winners, losers and a lot of social distancing

Everything was different at the 2021 BAFTAs, with COVID restrictions resulting in an eerily empty event at the Royal Albert Hall. But the pandemic did not keep the film industry from celebrating its highlights.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about numerous firsts in entertainment, and the 2021 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) ceremony is no exception to that. While the event was still held at and broadcast live into the world from the Royal Albert Hall in London, the two main presenters, Dermot O'Leary and Edith Bowman, had to face a rather empty hall without an audience present, while making sure they kept a physical distance.

Throughout the evening, canned laughter and special effects unfortunately failed to fill the space, making at times for

rather awkward moments, as the two presenters were merely being joined by a small list of celebrities at the venue to announce the winners, who all accepted their awards remotely without the usual red carpetglamor.

That overall sense of emptiness was only further magnified by four light columns spelling the word "film" across the stage.

BA F TA ch i ef execu ti v e Amanda Berry made it clear from the beginning that this year's ceremony had to be a different affair, driving the message of social distancing home by sporting a visor over her face as she arrived at the Royal Albert Hall, signaling that looking your best for the paparazzi was not on the highest order of priorities this year.

New beginnings

The fact that the ceremony went ahead at all was, however, highly welcome, especially for the British film industry, which has been suffering immensely over the past year. O'Leary even said it was incredible that amid the limitations imposed by COVID-19, movies could still continue to flourish — "a bit like getting that ship out of the Suez Canal," he said.

There were many newcomers among the top categories, with a special focus on diversity, following repeated accusations of racism in the the global film industry over the past years. This year's ceremony also was the first time that the event was stretched across two days, with many of the more technical categories being announced and awarded on Saturday already.

At the onset of the ceremony on Sunday, the two presenters acknowledged the recent passing of Prince Philip, the Duke of

Edinburgh, who for several years had been the president of the BAFTA academy.

Diversity, pluralism and minorities to the front

Nomadland by Chloe Zhao was the big winner of 2021. The movie won not only the BAFTAs for best director as well as for cinematography, but also took home the awards for best film, while Frances McDormand also received the award for leading actress. The movie follows its protagonist, who lost everything during the 2008 recession, as she

Even a year into the pandemic, keeping social distance on television made for some awkward moments

The stage of the BAFTA awards with one award trophy in the foreground