India’s Netflix film, The White Tiger, was nominated for two categories at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) film awards – best actor and best adapted screenplay. However, neither actor Adarsh Gourav, nor Ramin Bahrani won the awards held late Sunday. Sir Anthony Hopkins won the best actor’s award for The Father, while Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller bagged the award for best adapted screenplay for the same film.
The US road movie Nomadland won big, bagging four categories including best film, best actress and best director at the award night. The BAFTA ceremony was held virtually over two nights, with nominees joining in by video, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Chinese director Chloe Zhao’s US recession drama Nomadland is about a community of van dwellers. Zhao welcomed stronger representation for women film-makers in comments to journalists afterwards, saying: “It’s about time, it’s great. I love doing what I do and if this means more people like me get to live their dreams, I’m very grateful”. Nomadland is one of the frontrunners for this month’s Oscar awards, with six nominations including for best picture, best director and best actress. Last month it won coveted Golden Globe awards for best drama film and best director.
Welsh actor Sir Anthony Hopkins won the best actor Bafta for The Father about a man suffering from dementia, directed by France’s Florian Zeller. The 83-year-old didn’t appear during the ceremony but spoke to journalists afterwards, explaining that he had not expected to win and had been holidaying in Wales and painting in his hotel room. “This is wonderful, I mean, this is the first time in my life when I never expected to get this,” he said, calling his fourth Bafta a “fun bonus”.
