The Revenant sweeps the BAFTAs, emerging as the sole winner for coveted categories such as the best film, best director, best actor, best cinematography and best sound at the 69th edition of the BAFTA Awards. Hosted by Stephen Fry, the evening also saw an array of presenters such as Idris Elba, Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr.
George Miller’s visually stunning piece of gem, Mad Max: Fury Road, earned four technical awards along with one for the costumes of the tribes, while the evening also saw Sidney Poitier, the iconic actor who was not in the pink of health to attend the award function, being awarded with the BFI Fellowship. This year at the BAFTAs, the Oscars’ diversity issue also managed to take centre-stage, with Rebel Wilson and Sarah Baron Cohen making comical jibes about the issue, while presenting awards to the contenders.
Mexico’s Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu won the best director award for The Revenant and stated that he was overwhelmed while Leonardo DiCaprio, who won the best actor award for the same, wished his mother a happy birthday along with thanking her for supporting him through thick and thin, as a child. He also mentioned how his mother “drove me three hours a day to a different school to show me a different opportunity”. Winning the best film among other nominations such as Steven Spielberg’s thriller Bridge of Spies, Todd Haynes’ 1950s female romance Carol, Adam McKay’s The Big Short and Tom McCarthy’s newsroom drama Spotlight, The Revenant is also one of the top contenders for the Oscar race.
The other winners of the evening were Brie Larson, who was awarded the best actress BAFTA trophy for her film Room, and Kate Winslet, who won the best supporting actress trophy for her role in the Steve Jobs biopic. Here is a complete list of this year’s BAFTA Award winners:
Best Film: The Revenant
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant
Best Actress: Brie Larson for Room
Best Director: Alejandro G. Inarritu for the Revenant
Best Supporting Actor: Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies
Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet for Steve Jobs
Best Documentary: Amy – Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees
Film Not in the English Language: Wild Tales – Damian Szifron
Best Animated Film: Inside Out – Pete Docter
Best Original Screenplay: Spotlight – Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer
Best Adapted Screenplay: Adam McKay and Charles Randoph for The Big Short
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for The Revenant
Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or a Producer in 2016: Naji Abu Nowar (Writer and Director) and Rupert Lloyd (Producer) for Theeb
Outstanding British Film in 2016: Brooklyn – John Crowley, Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey and Nick Hornby
Best Production Design: Colin Gibson and Lisa Thompson for Mad Max: Fury Road
Special Visual Effects: Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh and Neal Scanlan for Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Editing: Margaret Sixel for Mad Max: Fury Road
Best Sound: The Revenant – Lon Bender, Chris Duesterdiek, Martin Hernandez, Frank A. Montano, Randy Thom and Jon Taylor
Make-up and Hair: Lesley Vanderwalt and Damien Martin for Mad Max: Fury Road