WOMEN RULE AT THE BAFTA's

Kate Middleton defies the black dress code, JLaw is ‘rude’ to a senior British actress, and Angelina Jolie glams up the black theme with her usual thigh-slit silhouette, as Three Billboards takes the biggest haul at the BAFTAs including a gong for acting

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 won Best Actress, Sam Rockwell bagged Best Supporting Actor prize.

Much fancied The Shape of Water came away with only three awards, including Best Director for Guillermo Del Toro, while Darkest Hour claimed two prizes, including one for Gary Oldman as Best Actor.

Allison Janney won Best Supporting actress for the Tonya Harding in biopic I, Tonya.

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. 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, as she accompanied husband Prince William, president of BAFTA, to the ceremony.

Host Joanna Lumley 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.

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