The 70th British Academy Film Awards took place on the 12th February in London and saw world famous actors, directors and producers attend. It was a night rife with politicisms, with multiple speeches taking aim at the current turmoil surrounding race, immigration and governance.
Some of the Asian faces that picked up the coveted gong included Dev Patel, who won Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his outstanding work in Lion. The 26-year-old actor play Saroo Brierley in this biographical piece which tells the story of a young Indian whisked away to Australia who as a man, journeys back to find his roots.
Upon collecting the award, London-born Patel seemed stumped for words, and said, “This is so overwhelming. You know, I sit at home and watch this with my family, who are here with me tonight, and it’s just such an overwhelming feeling.” He thanked his team, saying they “had the insane task of trying to get this Indian dude, this noodle with wonky teeth and a lazy eye and floppy hair, work in this really hard industry.”
Another asian winner was the animated short film A Love Story, which was produced by Khaled Gad and directed, animated and co-written by the multitalented Anushka Kishani Naanayakkara.
Full List of Winners:
Best Film
Arrival
I, Daniel Blake
La La Land *WINNER*
Manchester By The Sea
Moonlight
Best Leading Actor
Andrew Garfield – Hacksaw Ridge
Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea *WINNER*
Jake Gyllenhaal – Nocturnal Animals
Ryan Gosling – La La Land
Viggo Mortensen – Captain Fantastic
Best Leading Actress
Amy Adams – Arrival
Emily Blunt – The Girl on the Train
Emma Stone – La La Land *WINNER*
Meryl Streep – Florence Foster Jenkins
Natalie Portman – Jackie
Outstanding British Film
American Honey
Denial
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
I, Daniel Blake *WINNER*
Notes on Blindness
Under the Shadow
Best Supporting Actress
Hayley Squires – I, Daniel Blake
Michelle Williams – Manchester By The Sea
Naomie Harris – Moonlight
Nicole Kidman – Lion
Viola Davis – Fences *WINNER*
Best Supporting Actor
Aaron Taylor Johnson – Nocturnal Animals
Dev Patel – Lion *WINNER*
Hugh Grant – Florence Foster Jenkins
Jeff Bridges – Hell or High Water
Mahershala Ali – Moonlight
Best Adapted Screenplay
Eric Heisserer – Arrival
Robert Schenkkan & Andrew Knight – Hacksaw Ridge
Theodore Melfi & Allison Schroeder – Hidden Figures
Luke Davies – Lion *WINNER*
Tom Ford – Nocturnal Animals
Best Original Screenplay
Taylor Sheridan – Hell or High Water
Paul Laverty – I, Daniel Blake
Damien Chazelle – La La Land
Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester By The Sea *WINNER*
Barry Jenkins – Moonlight
Best Director
Denis Villeneuve – Arrival
Ken Loach – I, Daniel Blake
Damien Chazelle – La La Land *WINNER*
Kenneth Lonergan – Manchester By The Sea
Tom Ford – Nocturnal Animals
Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director, or Producer
The Girl With All the Gifts – Mike Carey (Writer), Camille Gatin (Producer)
The Hard Stop – George Amponsah (Writer/Director/Producer), Dionne Walker (Writer/Producer)
Notes on Blindness – Peter Middleton (Writer/Director/Producer), James Spinney (Writer/Director/Producer),Jo-Jo Ellison (Producer)
The Pass – John Donnelly (Writer), Ben A. Williams (Director)
Under the Shadow – Babak Anvari (Writer/Director), Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan Toh (Producers) *WINNER*
Film Not in the English Language
Dheepan – Jacques Audiard, Pascal Caucheteux
Julieta – Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar
Mustang – Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Charles Gillibert
Son of Saul – László Nemes, Gábor Sipos *WINNER*
Toni Erdmann – Maren Ade, Janine Jackowski
Documentary
13th – Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick, Howard Barish *WINNER*
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years – Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Scott Pascucci, Nigel Sinclair
The Eagle Huntress – Otto Bell, Stacey Reiss
Notes on Blindness – Peter Middleton, James Spinney
Weiner – Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg
Animated Film
Finding Dory – Andrew Stanton
Kubo and the Two Strings – Travis Knight *WINNER*
Moana – Ron Clements, John Musker
Zootropolis – Byron Howard, Rich Moore
Original Music
Arrival – Jóhann Jóhannsson
Jackie – Mica Levi
La La Land – Justin Hurwitz *WINNER*
Lion – Dustin O’Halloran, Hauschka
Nocturnal Animals – Abel Korzeniowski
Cinematography
Arrival – Bradford Young
Hell or High Water – Giles Nuttgens
La La Land – Linus Sandgren *WNNER*
Lion – Greig Fraser
Nocturnal Animals – Seamus McGarvey
Editing
Arrival – Joe Walker
Hacksaw Ridge – John Gilbert *WINNER*
La La Land – Tom Cross
Manchester by the Sea – Jennifer Lame
Nocturnal Animals – Joan Sobel
Production Design
Doctor Strange – Charles Wood, John Bush
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Stuart Craig, Anna Pinnock *WINNER*
Hail, Caesar! – Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh
La La Land – David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
Nocturnal Animals – Shane Valentino, Meg Everist
Costume Design
Allied – Joanna Johnston
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Colleen Atwood
Florence Foster Jenkins – Consolata Boyle
Jackie – Madeline Fontaine
La La Land – Mary Zophres *WINNER*
Make up & Hair
Doctor Strange – Jeremy Woodhead
Florence Foster Jenkins – J. Roy Helland, Daniel Phillips *WINNER*
Hacksaw Ridge – Shane Thomas
Nocturnal Animals – Donald Mowat, Yolanda Toussieng
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – Amanda Knight, Neal Scanlan, Lisa Tomblin
Sound
Arrival – Sylvain Bellemare, Claude La Haye, Bernard Gariépy Strobl *WINNER*
Deepwater Horizon – Dror Mohar , Mike Prestwood Smith, Wylie Stateman, Renee Tondelli, David Wyman
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Niv Adiri, Glenn Freemantle, Simon Hayes, Andy Nelson, Ian Tapp
Hacksaw Ridge – Peter Grace, Robert Mackenzie, Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright
La La Land – Mildred Iatrou Morgan, Ai-Ling Lee, Steve A. Morrow, Andy Nelson
Special Visual Effects
Arrival – Louis Morin
Doctor Strange – Richard Bluff, Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Jonathan Fawkner
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Tim Burke, Pablo Grillo, Christian Manz, David Watkins
The Jungle Book – Robert Legato, Dan Lemmon, Andrew R. Jones, Adam Valdez *WINNER*
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – Neil Corbould, Hal Hickel, Mohen Leo, John Knoll, Nigel Sumner
British Short Animation
The Alan Dimension – Jac Clinch, Jonathan Harbottle, Millie Marsh
A Love Story – Khaled Gad, Anushka Kishani Naanayakkara, Elena Ruscombe-King *WINNER*
Tough – Jennifer Zheng
British Short Film
Consumed – Richard John Seymour
Home – Shpat Deda, Afolabi Kuti, Daniel Mulloy, Scott O’Donnell *WINNER*
Mouth of Hell – Bart Gavigan, Samir Mehanovic, Ailie Smith, Michael Wilson
The Party – Farah Abushwesha, Emmet Fleming, Andrea Harkin, Conor MacNeill
Standby – Jack Hannon, Charlotte Regan
EE Rising Star Award (voted for by the public)
Anya Taylor-Joy
Laia Costa
Lucas Hedges
Ruth Negga
Tom Holland *WINNER*
