‘ Three Billboards’ wins big at Baftas

The crime drama bagged 5 including best film, actress awards; The Shape of Water picks 3, Darkest Hour gets 2

London: Crime drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri captured five British Bafta film awards on Sunday, including best film, topping an emotionally charged ceremony that featured fashion and rhetoric in support of the fight against sexual harassment sweeping Hollywood.

The movie, chronicling a grieving mother’s campaign for justice, won for original screenplay and outstanding British film, while Frances McDormand bagged best actress and Sam Rockwell best supporting actor prizes.

The Shape of Water — the most heavily nominated film of the night with 12 nods — came away with only three awards, including best director for Guillermo Del Toro, while Darkest Hour claimed two prizes, including for Gary Oldman as best actor. With Hollywood still reeling from the fallout of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the resulting anti- sexual harassment campaigns were reflected in the mood of the evening.

“Our film is a hopeful one in lots of ways but it’s also an angry one,” Martin McDonagh, writer and director of Three

Billboards, said in his acceptance speech. “And as we’ve seen this year, sometimes anger is the only way to get people to listen and to change, so we’re thrilled that Bafta has recognised this.”

Stars arrived at London’s Royal Albert Hall predominantly dressed in black in solidarity with the #MeToo and “Time’s Up” campaigns, mirroring other recent American red carpets including last month’s Golden Globes.

Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lawrence and Kristin Scott Thomas were among the stars who wore black.

British royals avoid making overtly political statements or gestures, so there was little suprise when the Duchess of Cambridge chose to wear a dark green dress, by British designer Jenny Packham, as she accompanied husband Prince William, president of Bafta, to the ceremony.

Jane Lush, chair of Bafta, opened the evening soberly telling the star- studded audience it was important to acknowledge a “difficult” past year, and noted efforts to tackle gender inequality.

“Brave revelations have followed brave revelations of bullying and sexual harassment, and which to all our shame has been hidden in plain sight for decades,” she said. “This is a moment in history, it should be a watershed, a catalyst for lasting change.”

Host Joanna Lumley, a British film and TV star, also praised the gender equality movement as a continuation of the work of the Suffragettes a century ago.

She hailed the “determination to eradicate the abuse of women the world over” as she took to the stage.