Edward Berger’s First World War drama All Quiet on the Western Front received most of the top prizes at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards ceremony in London on Sunday evening.
The artwork was a candidate for fourteen awards based on the preliminary nominations, and it won seven at the BAFTA event, which is considered a relatively reliable Oscar predictor. The new film adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s classic 1928 novel won Best Picture, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay Adaptation, Best Original Score, Best Sound and Best Cinematography. The work also broke a record, because in the history of the BAFTA awards, no film shot in English language has ever received so much recognition.
A total of 45 films were nominated for BAFTA awards this year, but there has been no precedent for a single film being nominated for fourteen awards in more than a decade: the last time the film The King’s Speech received so many BAFTA nominations was in 2011. For the second time in three years, a film drama with the theme of the First World War received the most BAFTA awards: in 2020, Sir Sam Mendes’ 1917 took home the highest accolades. 1917 was nominated for nine awards and won seven: Best Picture, Outstanding British Film, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Sound and Best Special Visual Effects, with Mendes also receiving also received the award for best director.
This year’s BAFTA was held at the Royal Festival Hall
Elvis, directed by Baz Luhrmann and inspired by the biopic about the late legendary singer Elvis Presley, won Best Cast and Best Makeup out of nine nominations, with lead actor Austin Butler taking home the award for best male lead actor.
Cate Blanchett, winner of the Critics Choice Awards, won the best female lead role for her performance in Tár. The film Banshees of Inisherin was also among the big winners: it started with ten nominations and won the BAFTA awards for Outstanding British Filmmaking and Best Original Screenplay, as well as Best Supporting Actor for Barry Keoghan and Best Actress for Kerry Condon.
