Conclave and The Brutalist win big at the Baftas

Reuters

Pope drama Conclave and immigration epic The Brutalist walked away with some of the biggest prizes at the Bafta film awards on Sunday.

Conclave, directed by German director Edward Berger, picked up four awards in total including best film and best British film; the first time a movie has won both in the same year since the 2019 war drama, 1917. It also won best adapted screenplay and best editing.

US filmmaker Brady Corbet's The Brutalist also won four - Corbet picked up best director while Adrien Brody won best actor for his portrayal of Hungarian architect and Holocaust survivor, László Tóth. The film also won best original score and cinematography.

Other winners included Mikey Madison (best actress, for Anora), Kieran Culkin (best supporting actor, for A Real Pain) and Zoe Saldaña (best supporting actress, for Emilia Pérez).

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Berger, said on winning the British film prize: "This is a huge, huge honour. Best British and I'm not even from here, so I feel so welcome in your midst."

Bafta rules state that films in this category "must have significant creative involvement by individuals who are British".

Berger added that we live in a time of a crisis of democracy and ended his speech by quoting Leonard Cohen, saying: "There's a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in."

Brody told the audience The Brutalist "is really about the pursuit of leaving something meaningful", while Corbet said he was "humbled and very grateful".

The ceremony was hosted by David Tennant at London's Royal Festival Hall. The actor wore a kilt and opened the ceremony by belting out The Proclaimers' classic song, I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), joined by other stars including James McAvoy and Colman Domingo.

In what has been an unpredictable awards season, the Baftas followed a similar pattern, with no single film sweeping the board, and several movies sharing the spoils.

Conclave, about a a gossipy and scheming group of cardinals who gather in Rome to elect a new Pope, which stars Ralph Fiennes, had led the charge with 12 nominations.

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Emilia Pérez, the French-made film, about a dangerous Mexican drug lord who decides to leave the world of crime and live a new life as a woman, has been the subject of controversy in recent weeks. Offensive social media posts by its star, Karla Sofía Gascón, were unearthed.

Some wondered if the saga would affect its chances. With 11 nominations, it ended up winning best international film alongside Zoe Saldaña's win. She is now a favourite to replicate her Bafta win at next month's Oscars.

On accepting the international film prize, the film's director, Jacques Audiard, thanked the cast, including Gascon, as did Saldaña.

Anora, about a New York stripper who has a whirlwind romance with the son of a Russian oligarch, had been picking up best picture momentum ahead of the Oscars next month - but instead came away with best actress and best casting.

Kieran Culkin's win for a A Real Pain was widely expected. The award was collected by his co-star and the film's writer and director, Jesse Eisenberg.

Eisenberg's film, about two cousins who explore their Jewish grandmother's roots in Poland, also picked up the award for best original screenplay.

Actor and TV presenter Warwick Davis was awarded the Bafta Fellowship, the highest honour bestowed by the British Academy. He thanked his mother - his "first agent" and his "wonderful wife Sammy who died almost a year ago".

The In Memoriam segment, which honours those from the film community who we have lost in the past year, paid tribute to the likes of Dame Maggie Smith, James Earl Jones, David Lynch, Dame Joan Plowright and Donald Sutherland.

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Other winners included Denis Villeneuve's Dune Part 2, which won special effects and sound.

Blockbuster musical film Wicked won best production design for Brits Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales. It was Crowley's first Bafta and his sixth nonmination, although Sandales has won twice previously. It also picked up best costume design.

Aardman's latest Wallace and Gromit film, Vengeance Most Fowl, won best animation - perhaps surprisingly, it's the first time they have won this award. They also picked up the inaugural award for best children and family film.

West Belfast rap group Kneecap won the Bafta for outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer.

The Irish-language film is based on a semi-fictionalised account of how the band was formed.

The film's English director, Rich Peppiatt, said on accepting the prize: "Kneecap is more than a film, it's a movement," adding that everyone should have their language and culture respected.

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve story, a film about the life of the Superman star who was paralysed in a horse riding accident 10 years before his death in 2004, won best documentary. His children took to the stage to honour their late father.

Body horror The Substance won make up and hair. The film sees a TV aerobics presenter in her 50s, played by Demi Moore, who takes a black-market drug to create a younger, more beautiful version of herself. Full of gory effects, the film is the favourite to pick up the same prize at next month's Oscars.

Moore has won best actress at several awards ceremonies so far this season, including the Golden Globe and Critics Choice. She will still be a favourite at the Oscars although Madison's Bafta win does make things more interesting.