Less than two hours, between English humor and efficiency.
With nominees live from their sofas and performers alone on the London stage at the Royal Albert Hall.
The Bafta have confirmed the Oscar-favorite status of Chloe Zhao
Nomadland's
wandering
tale
who made the grand slam in the final minutes of the gala,
securing
the statuette for best film, director and actress.
The Father
by French playwright Florian Zeller and the feminist thriller
Promising Young Woman
are also doing well.
The Bafta would also have something to make their French counterparts blush, our bloated Caesars.
A thought for the Duke of Edinburgh who was the patron of the ceremony and the evening has, as every year, started on the hats of wheels.
It must be said that the technical awards had been awarded on Saturday and had seen the triumph of the
Blues of Ma Rainey.
A virtual reality performance by ex-One Direction member Liam Payne preceded a concise opening monologue, with three fat-free puns:
“Sacred year that the cinema has lived, a bit like a silted cargo ship. in the Suez Canal.
Soon we will see James Bond and his worst enemy: a fixed release date.
Many of the films named this year have found a particular echo like Drunk which reminded us of how much we missed booze at work.
During this year when we were unable to go anywhere, the magic of cinema transported us everywhere ”.
»READ ALSO - Bafta: between Nomadland and Rocks, the leap into the void of the English Caesar
Favorite parties with seven nominations each, Chloe Zhao
Nomadland's
road trip
, a hymn to the glory of modern hippies traveling the United States in their vans, and
Sarah Gavron's
Rocks
, a story of mutual aid between teenage girls in London, had to wait before to be distinguished.
But the story on the road of Chloe Zhao left only crumbs, seizing the most prestigious statuettes of the evening: a trifecta best film, best direction, best actress to which we must add better cinematography.
“Thank you to the nomadic community for welcoming us and showing that aging is a stage in life.
The way we treat our seniors means a lot of things about our society.
We must do better, ”
said the filmmaker of Chinese origin.
The emotion of Chloé Zhao BAFTA / REUTERS
With this distinction for best director, Chloe Zhao becomes only the second director ever to win at the Bafta, a decade after Kathryn Bigelow for
Minesweeper
.
Despite her absence, Frances McDormand won the trophy for best actress in the nose and beard of the British actresses in the running, including Vanessa Kirby, overwhelming as a bereaved mother in
Pieces of A Woman
.
Florian Zeller: "I am French but in my heart I feel English"
Florian Zeller read the BAFTA / REUTERS thank you message
Recipient of the prize for best adaptation for the transposition of his play
The Father
on an old man sinking into dementia, Florian Zeller appeared from his attic.
Apologizing for his French accent, the playwright confided that he only designed
The Father
under the British flag:
“It has been a real honor to work in your country which is truly a country of theater.
I am French but in my heart I feel English ”.
The Frenchman spoke again to read the message of thanks from his tutelary hero: Anthony Hopkins created the surprise by being crowned best actor against the late Chadwick Boseman.
To read also: Florian Zeller: "My meeting with Anthony Hopkins seemed to me the most important of my life!"
The Danish filmmaker Thomas Vintenberg succeeded him by winning the trophy for best foreign film with
Drunk
:
"I had the intuition that the English public would like this story of the picole"
, he joked before paying homage to his daughter Ida, who died at the start of filming and who loved the concept of the film:
“This trophy is so much more than a statuette for us.
We miss Ida so much ”.
New faces and veterans among actors
Thoroughly reformed after being criticized for their lack of diversity, the Bafta presented bold new appointments favoring young shoots rather than veterans.
Twenty-one of the nominees were for the first time in their careers.
Sixteen of them are from minorities.
The winners certainly reflected this new state of affairs, but less than expected.
The statuettes crowning the main performances are finally gone, contrary to the predictions which bet on the new generation represented by Vanessa Kirby (
Pieces Of A Woman
) and Riz Ahmed
(Sound Of Metal
), to seasoned actors: Frances McDormand and Anthony Hopkins who return in the race for the Oscars which will take place on April 25 in Hollywood.
Emerald Fennell's Chocolate Bafta BAFTA / REUTERS
The statuette for Best Supporting Actor went to actress Yuh-Jung Youn, a twisted grandmother in the delicious
Minari
, a tale of the bitter American dream of Korean emigrants in the United States.
After having had a thought for Prince Philip, the laureate praised the fair play of the British yet usually "so snobbish" who honored her performance.
Awarded at the Golden Globes, at the Actors' Union awards, Daniel Kaluuya was able to add the trophy for best supporting role to his chimney for his role as leader of the Black Panther Fred Hampton in
Judas And The Black Messiah.
Equally energized and joyful, director and actress Emerald Fennell bagged the Bafta for Best Original Screenplay thanks to her debut film, the vengeful feminist thriller
Promising Young Woman
.
From her hotel, the lucky one was holding a chocolate Bafta mask
"completely melted because my hands are so sweaty"
.
It did double duty by scooping up the title of best British film shortly after: “
Thank you to everyone who watched this work that comes from the heart.
Now I'm going to shut up before I burst into tears ”.
Bukky Bakray named BAFTA / REUTERS Audience Revelation of the Year
Author of the horror film
This House,
which features a Sudanese couple who, after many adventures, land in England, Remi Week leaves with the statuette of best first film.
Halfway through, the young Bukky Bakray, 18, transformed the try for
Rocks
by bringing him a second trophy, that of the best hope voted by the public.
The Nigerian-born actress encapsulates in this story, based in part on improvisation, a high school student abandoned by her mother who must take care of her brother and will receive the support of her classmates.
The film left on Saturday with the prize for best distribution.
