LONDON (AP) 鈥� Antiwar German movie 鈥淎ll Quiet on the Western Front鈥� won seven prizes, including best picture, at the on Sunday, building the somber drama鈥檚 momentum as awards season rolls toward its climax at next month鈥檚
Irish tragicomedy 鈥淭he Banshees of Inisherin鈥� and rock biopic 鈥淓lvis鈥� took four prizes each.
鈥淎ll Quiet,鈥� a visceral depiction of life and death in the World War I trenches based on Erich Maria Remarque's classic novel, won Edward Berger the best director award. Its other trophies included adapted screenplay, cinematography, best score, best sound and best film not in English.
Austin Butler was a surprise best actor winner for 鈥淓lvis.鈥� Baz Lurhmann鈥檚 flamboyant musical also won trophies for casting, costume design and hair and makeup. Cate Blanchett won the best actress prize for orchestral drama 鈥淭谩r."
Martin McDonagh鈥檚 鈥淏anshees,鈥� the bleakly comic story of a friendship gone sour, was named best British film.
鈥淏est what award?鈥� joked McDonagh of the film, which was shot in Ireland with a largely Irish cast and crew. It has British funding, and McDonagh was born in Britain to Irish parents.
鈥淏anshees鈥� also won for McDonagh鈥檚 original screenplay, and awards for Kerry Condon as best supporting actress and Barry Keoghan for best supporting actor.
The prizes 鈥� officially the EE BAFTA Film Awards 鈥� are Britain鈥檚 equivalent of Hollywood鈥檚 Academy Awards and will be watched closely for hints of who may win at the Oscars on March 12.
Madcap metaverse romp 鈥淓verything Everywhere All at Once,鈥� the Academy Awards front-runner, was the night鈥檚 big loser, winning just one prize from its 10 BAFTA nominations, for editing.
Actor Richard E. Grant was a suave and self-deprecating host 鈥� with support from TV presenter Alison Hammond 鈥� for the ceremony at London鈥檚 Royal Festival Hall, where the U.K鈥檚 movie academy heralded its strides to become more diverse but said there was more to be done.
Grant joked in his opening monologue about the infamous altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock at last year鈥檚 Oscars.
鈥淣obody on my watch gets slapped tonight,鈥� he said. 鈥淓xcept on the back.鈥�
Guests and presenters walking the red carpet on the south bank of the River Thames included Colin Farrell, Ana de Armas, Eddie Redmayne, Brian Cox, Florence Pugh, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Cynthia Erivo, Julianne Moore and Lily James.
Heir to the throne Prince William, who is president of Britain鈥檚 film and television academy, was in the audience alongside his wife, Kate. William wore a tuxedo with black velvet jacket, while Kate dressed in a floor-length Alexander McQueen dress that she also wore to the 2019 BAFTAs.
Helen Mirren paid tribute to William鈥檚 grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September. Mirren, who portrayed the late monarch onscreen in 鈥淭he Queen鈥� and onstage in 鈥淭he Audience,鈥� called Elizabeth 鈥渢he nation鈥檚 leading lady.鈥�
Britain鈥檚 film academy introduced changes to increase the awards鈥� diversity in 2020, when no women were nominated as best director for the seventh year running and all 20 nominees in the lead and supporting performer categories were white.
This year there were 11 female directors up for awards across all categories, including documentary and animated films. But just one of the main best-director nominees was female: Gina Prince-Bythewood for 鈥淭he Woman King.鈥�
BAFTA chair Krishnendu Majumdar said the academy's soul-searching had been 鈥渁 necessary and humbling process.鈥� He said the 鈥渧ital work of levelling the playing field鈥� would continue.
鈥淲est Side Story鈥� star Ariana DeBose opened the show by performing 鈥淪isters are Doin鈥� it for Themselves,鈥� with an added rap shoutout to some of the nominated women, including Blanchett, Michelle Yeoh and Viola Davis.
Blanchett said it had been 鈥渁n extraordinary year for female performers. To be counted among them is really special.鈥�
It was a strong year for Irish actors at the BAFTAs, with Deryl McCormack up for the BAFTA Rising Star award 鈥� though he lost out to Emma Mackey 鈥� and Condon, Keoghan, Farrell and Brendan Gleeson all getting acting nominations for 鈥淏anshees.鈥�
McCormack hailed the event as 鈥渢he Irish BAFTAs.鈥�
鈥淚t is a small country, but to see the talent that comes out of it is quite amazing,鈥� he said.
Writer-director Charlotte Wells won the prize for best British debut for the affecting father-daughter drama 鈥淎ftersun.鈥� Three-time Oscar winner Sandy Powell became the first costume designer to be awarded the academy鈥檚 top honor, the BAFTA fellowship.
The harsh world outside showbiz intruded on the awards when Bulgarian journalist Christo Grozev, who works for investigative website Bellingcat, said he was now allowed to attend the awards because of a risk to public security. He features in 鈥淣avalny,鈥� a film about jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny that won the best documentary BAFTA.
鈥淣avalny鈥� producer Odessa Rae dedicated the award to Grozev, 鈥渙ur Bulgarian nerd with a laptop, who could not be with us tonight because his life is under threat by the Russian government and Vladimir Putin.鈥�
Jamie Lee Curtis, a supporting actress nominee for 鈥淓verything Everywhere,鈥� said the chance awards season provides to celebrate cinema was more important than who wins.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a moment of celebration in the midst of everything,鈥� Curtis told The Associated Press on the red carpet. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard out there. Everywhere. All at once. All the time.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Hilary Fox contributed to this report.
Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
