‘One Battle After Another’ wins big at 79th BAFTA film awards

Politically charged thriller “One Battle After Another” won six prizes, including best picture, at the British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, building momentum ahead of Hollywood’s Academy Awards next month. Blues-steeped vampire epic “Sinners” and gothic horror story “Frankenstein” won three awards each, while Shakespearean family tragedy “Hamnet” won two including best British film.

“One Battle After Another,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s explosive film about a group of revolutionaries in chaotic conflict with the state, won awards for directing, adapted screenplay, cinematography and editing, as well as for Sean Penn’s supporting performance as an obsessed military officer.

“This is very overwhelming and wonderful,” Anderson said as he accepted the directing prize. He paid tribute to his longstanding assistant director, Adam Somner, who died of cancer in November 2024 a few weeks into production.

Team from 'Sentimental Value.'

Bookies’ favourite Jessie Buckley won the best actress prize for playing grieving mother Agnes Hathaway, wife of William Shakespeare, in “Hamnet.” Buckley, 36, is the first Irish performer to win a best actress prize at the awards, known as BAFTAs.

In a major upset, Robert Aramayo won the best actor category for his performance in “I Swear,” a fact-based British indie drama about a campaigner for people with Tourette syndrome.

The 33-year-old British actor looked stunned and called the victory over Ethan Hawke, Michael B. Jordan, Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet “absolutely mad.”

“I absolutely can’t believe this,” he said. “Everyone in this category blows me away.”

Jessie Buckley.

“Sinners” took home trophies for director Ryan Coogler’s original screenplay, the film’s musical score and for Wunmi Mosaku’s supporting actress performance as herbalist and healer Annie.

The British-Nigerian actor said that in the role she found “a part of my hopes, my ancestral power and my connection, parts I thought I had lost or tried to dim as an immigrant trying to fit in.”

Hollywood stars and British celebrities, from Paddington Bear to the Prince and Princess of Wales, gathered at London’s Royal Festival Hall for the awards. DiCaprio, Chalamet, Emma Stone, Cillian Murphy, Glenn Close and Ethan Hawke were among the stars walking the red carpet before a black-tie ceremony hosted by Scottish actor Alan Cumming.

Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales also attended, three days after William’s uncle Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested by police and held for 11 hours over allegations he sent sensitive government information to the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Paul Thomas Anderson.

The scandal has rocked the royal family led by King Charles III, though William and Kate remain popular standard-bearers for the monarchy. William presented an award in his role as president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Among the biggest receptions from gathered fans was for Paddington, the puppet bear who stars in a musical stage adaption of the beloved children’s classic.

The British prizes, officially called the EE BAFTA Film Awards, often provide hints about who will win at Hollywood’s Academy Awards, held this year on March 15. “Sinners” has a record 16 Oscar nominations, followed by “One Battle After Another” with 13.

“One Battle” went into the BAFTAs ceremony with 14 nominations. “Sinners” was just behind with 13, while “Hamnet” had 11. Ping-pong odyssey “Marty Supreme” also had 11 nominations but went home empty=handed. Guillermo del Toro’s reimagining of “Frankenstein” and Norwegian family drama “Sentimental Value” each got eight nominations.

Team from 'Hamnet'.

“Frankenstein” took awards for production design, costume design and for the hair and makeup artists who spent 10 hours a day transforming Jacob Elordi into the movie’s monstrous creature. “Sentimental Value” won the prize for the best film not in English.

Cumming told the audience that it had been a strong year for cinema, if not a cheerful one, with nominated films tackling themes including child death, racism and political violence: “Watching the films this year was like taking part in a collective nervous breakdown,” he said. “It’s almost as though there are events going on in the real world that are influencing filmmakers.”

The ceremony was more glitz than gloom, though, including a performance by Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami - the voices of animated band HUNTR/X in box office juggernaut “KPop Demon Hunters” - singing the movie hit “Golden.”

Ginnifer Goodwin and Josh Dallas for 'Zootropolis 2.'

The best-documentary prize went to “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” about a Russian teacher who documented the propaganda imposed on Russian schools after the invasion of Ukraine.

Associated Press

Winners of British Academy Film Awards

Best Film
One Battle After Another

Outstanding British Film
Hamnet

Best Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

Best Leading Actor
Robert Aramayo, I Swear

Best Leading Actress
Jessie Buckley, Hamnet

Best Supporting Actor
Sean Penn, One Battle After Another

Best Supporting Actress
Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners

EE Rising Star Award
Robert Aramayo

Outstanding British Debut
Akinola Davies Jr. and Wale Davies for writing and directing My Father’s Shadow

Best Original Screenplay
Ryan Coogler, Sinners

Best Adapted Screenplay
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

Best Film Not in the English Language
Sentimental Value

Best Musical Score
Sinners

Cinematography
Michael Bauman, One Battle After Another

Best Editing
Andy Jurgensen, One Battle After Another

Production Design
Frankenstein

Best Costume Design
Kate Hawley, Frankenstein

Best Sound
F1

Best Casting
Lauren Evans, I Swear

Visual Effects
Avatar: Fire and Ash

Best Makeup and Hair
Frankenstein

Best Animated Film
Zootropolis 2

Best British Short Film
This is Endometriosis

British Short Animation
Two Black Boys in Paradise

Best Children’s and Family Film
Boong

Documentary
Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Reuters