Bafta Film Awards 2021: Nomadland, The Father and Promising Young Woman enjoy big wins

The 2021 Bafta Film Awards have concluded, with Nomadland and Promising Young Woman among the night’s big winners.

The ceremony took place over two nights (10 and 11 April) at London’s Royal Albert Hall, with nominees attending the events virtually.

Going into the weekend, Nomadland and Rocks led the pack with the most nominations each (seven), followed by The Father, Mank, Minari and Promising Young Woman, which all had six.

The EE Bafta Film Awards Opening Night ceremony, which took place on Saturday, was hosted by Clara Amfo, and saw films including Tenet and Sound of Metal take home awards.

Sunday night’s ceremony, which aired on BBC One, saw most of the major awards get handed out, and featured multiple wins for Promising Young Woman, Nomadland and The Father.

Promising Young Woman, a feminist revenge film written and directed by Emerald Fennell and starring Carey Mulligan, won best original screenplay and outstanding British film.

In one of the night’s bigger surprises, Sir Anthony Hopkins took home his third best actor Bafta for his leading role in The Father, in which he plays a man dealing with degenerative memory loss.

Nomadland was the biggest winner of the night, taking home four awards, for best film, best actress (for Frances McDormand), best director (for Chloe Zhao) and best cinematography.

The film centres on a woman (played by McDormand) who lives in a van in the American West in the aftermath of the financial crash. Zhao’s win makes her just the second woman to win in the best director category in 53 years.

Daniel Kaluuya, meanwhile, won the award for best supporting actor for his turn in Judas and the Black Messiah.

Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain; Hulk) received the Bafta Fellowship from Hugh Grant, in a segment which recognised the filmmaker’s versatility and contributions to cinema.

Rocks star Bukky Bakray took home the EE rising star award, which is voted for by the public, and delivered a joyful and moving acceptance speech over video.

Minari star Yuh-Jung Youn also amused viewers when she joked that British people are “very snobbish” in her endearing acceptance speech for best supporting actress.

Sunday’s event opened with a musical performance from Liam Payne. Later in the broadcast, Celeste sang “Hear My Voice” from The Trial of the Chicago 7, and a duet from One Night in Miami (“A Change is Gonna Come”) was performed by Leslie Odom Jr in Los Angeles and Corinne Bailey Rae in London.

Click here for a rundown of the best-dressed stars on Bafta night, while you can check out the six main talking points of the night, as well as relive the show as it happened via our live blog, here.

You can find a full list of the winners here.

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