Long treated as unimaginative followers of Hollywood and its glamorous Oscars, the Bafta - the British equivalent of the Caesars - are preparing to experience a historic weekend.
Not just because the pandemic forces the gala to go without the red carpet, to be held in part virtually between London and Los Angeles over two nights.
Saturday will be announced the winners of all technical categories (sound, sets, costumes) and Sunday will come the turn of the more prestigious trophies, where the social dramas
Nomadland
by Chloe Zhao and
Rocks
by Sarah Gavron are favorites.
French cinephiles will be able to follow the gala on Sundays from 8 p.m. on Canal + Cinéma.
Whatever happens, the Bafta will give birth to an unprecedented achievement in its openness to diversity.
It will be completely independent from that of the Oscars of April 25, with a list of nominations already very original.
Like the Oscars, the Bafta have experienced their “Baftasowhite” controversy.
Last year, no talent from diversity was mentioned in the performance categories.
Ditto for the directors: none had been selected.
Summoned to reform, the Bafta did so with an energy that surprised and which produced much more radical results than elsewhere, including the Oscars which increased their electoral body by several thousand voters over the past six years.
A list of films you must watch to vote
In one year, the Bafta have reviewed the process of preselection of nominations, voting and campaigning and have invited a thousand additional cinema professionals.
Concretely, each voter was sent a list of compulsory films to see before being able to designate the nominations.
The control was done via the official viewing platform.
The categories have gone from five to six slots.
In fact, 50 films have had at least one nomination this year, against 39 in 2020. The coronavirus leading to the withdrawal of blockbusters, this has also benefited independent films which have had better visibility.
Of the 24 nominations for the best leading and supporting roles, 21 are for actors and actresses who had never been selected for the Bafta.
Sixteen of them come from diversity.
Like Carey Mulligan who shines in the vengeful satire
Promising Young Woman
, several big stars have been left behind in favor of young shoots.
Exit the national treasure Olivia Colman (
The Father
), Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried (
Mank
), Sacha Baron Cohen (
The Chicago Seven
), Viola Davis (
The Blues of My Rainey
).
Total Beresina for the headliners of poetic
Ammonite
by Francis Lee, Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan.
Likewise for the mutineer Anya Taylor-Joy in
Emma.
On the other hand, welcome to Niamh Algar (
Calm With Horses),
Kosar Ali (
Rocks),
Dominique Fishback (
Judas And The Black Messiah),
Ashley Madekwe (
County Lines),
Yuh-Jung Youn (
Minari),
Bukky Bakray (
Rocks) or
Radha Blank (
The Forty-Year-Old Version).
These 2021 nominations also caused a stir with its best achievement category.
Four of the six nominated filmmakers are women.
Never seen.
Until now, at best a survivor sometimes pardoned this category.
And none for ten years!
Symbol of this revolution, seven record nominations were won by
Nomadland
by Chloe Zhao and
Rocks
by Sarah Gavron.
Follow
Mank, Promising Young Woman
,
The Father
and
Minari
on the installation of a South Korean family in Arkansas with six quotes.
Then
The Dig
and
Named Guilty
with five.
The acclaimed female directors
Grand winner of the Golden Globes, awarded in Venice and Toronto,
Nomadland
is a hymn to the glory of modern hippies crisscrossing the United States in their vans.
Rocks
follows a 15-year-old London girl abandoned like her younger brother by her mother but supported by her gang of friends.
They will face to win the king trophy for best film
The father
where Anthony Hopkins plays an old man sinking into dementia,
Designated guilty
, on a fierce lawyer defending a Mauritanian wrongly accused of terrorism by the United States, the thriller feminist
Promising Young Woman
and the
Chicago Seven
political drama
.
In the best direction section, Chloe Zhao and Sarah Gavron are joined by Shannon Murphy (
Babyteeth
) and Jasmila Žbanić (
Quo Vadis, Aida?).
The women's quartet will face Thomas Vinterberg
(Drunk) and
Lee Isaac Chung
(Minari).
Two directors in the minority
.
And not the most anticipated.
David Fincher (
Mank
) and Aaron Sorkin (
Chicago Seven
) are conspicuous by their absence.
The Bafta did not necessarily favor “house” talents.
Whooping cough across the Atlantic with his caustic and vengeful
Promising Young Woman,
Emerald Fennell fails, like his star actress, to break through.
Three feature films have won more nominations than expected and seem to be popular among voters:
The Father
by Florian Zeller, inspired by his play,
Designated Guilty
with French Tahar Rahim and Drunk by Danish Thomas Vinterberg where Mads Mikkelsen shines.
Mikkelsen and Rahim will try to snatch the title of best actor from the late Chadwick Boseman (
The Blues of Ma Rainey
), Anthony Hopkins (
The Father
), Riz Ahmed (
Sound Of Metal
) Adarsh Gourav (
The White Tiger).
Among the actresses, the statuette will be played between
Vanessa Kirby (Pieces Of A Woman),
Bukky Bakray (
Rocks),
Radha Blank (
The Forty-Year-Old Version),
Frances McDormand (
Nomadland)
Wunmi Mosaku (
His House) and
Alfre Woodard (
Clemency).
A host of stars
To celebrate the winners, the Bafta have called together a host of stars to present the trophies for Sunday's gala: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, the revelation of the
Bridgerton Chronicle
series
Phoebe Dynevor, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cynthia Erivo, Hugh Grant, Tom Hiddleston, Felicity Jones, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, James McAvoy, David Oyelowo of
12 Years A Slave
, Pedro Pascal of the
Mandalorian
and Jonathan Pryce.
They will be assisted from Los Angeles by actresses Rose Byrne, Andra Day, Anna Kendrick and Renée Zellweger.
Several musical numbers are on the program, including one by ex One Direction Liam Payne.
Reason and Sentiments
and
Brokeback Mountain director
Ang Lee will receive a Lifetime
Achievement
Statue
.
Patron of the Bafta, Prince William was to intervene on Saturday and Sunday but it is not known whether the commitment, announced before the death of his grandfather Prince Philip, will be maintained.
