In the West, nothing new, a German production from Netflix, won a very large following on Sunday evening by winning seven bafta, the British cinema awards, including those for best film and best director for Edward Berger. A century after Erich Maria Remarque’s famous 1929 pacifist novel brought to the screen here, producer Malte Grunert has underscored how relevant its message is.
“In the West Nothing New tells the story of young men who, poisoned by right-wing nationalist political propaganda, go to war thinking it’s an adventure,” he said, “war is anything but an adventure.” The film, which follows a young German soldier during the First World War, is dedicated in seven categories during this 76th Bafta ceremony, which was held at the Royal Festival Hall in London. It was released on both Netflix and theatrically in the UK. Nominated in a total of 14 categories, it tied Tiger and Dragon (2000) for the number of nominations for a film made in a language other than English. He is also multi-nominated for the Oscars next month.
Cate Blanchett won the Bafta for Best Actress for her role as the ruthless conductor in Tar, and hailed her award as an “extraordinary year for women”. American Austin Butler won Best Actor for his role in the Elvis biopic about the rock ‘n’ roll legend, beating Colin Farrell, who was a big favorite for The Banshees. of Inisherin.
This tragicomedy about the sudden breakdown of a friendship ultimately won four awards, notably for the best supporting roles awarded to Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon. It also won in the category of best original screenplay and best British film, although the feature film is very largely Irish. “All the Irish in the cast and crew are going to be wondering better what? joked the British director of the film, Martin McDonagh.
Ireland was particularly in the spotlight this year: a quarter of the 24 nominations in the acting categories went to Irish people thanks to the Banshees (four Irish actors nominated), but also with My appointments with Leo and Aftersun, nominated in the category best actor with respectively the Irish Daryl McCormack and Paul Mescal.
Nominated in ten categories, the feature film Everything Everywhere All at Once, where Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh plays a laundry owner immersed in parallel universes, only won the bafta for best editing. In total, this year, 45 films were nominated in one or more categories, down slightly from last year (48).
The prize for best documentary was awarded to Navalny, devoted to the Russian opponent Alexeï Navalny, against a backdrop of controversy, after the boss of the Bellingcat investigative site, Christo Grozev, was prevented from attending the ceremony for security reasons. London police cited the risk of “hostile intentions of foreign states”.
More than five months after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Helen Mirren presented a tribute to the sovereign. The 77-year-old actress won an Oscar and Bafta for her portrayal of the Queen in 2006 film The Queen. Prince William, the Queen’s grandson and Bafta president since 2010, attended the ceremony with his wife Kate for the first time since 2019. The Bafta ceremony, like that of the Golden Globes, gives a taste of the Oscars, which will be awarded on March 12 in Los Angeles.
