German anti-war drama All Quiet on the Western Front has seven wins at BAFTA Awards

German anti-war drama All Quiet on the Western Front dominated the BAFTA Awards in London on Sunday night with a record-breaking seven wins, including for Best Director, Best Film and Best Film Not in the English Language.

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The tally means the World War I epic now holds the record for a film not in the English language. The previous record was held by the 1988 Giuseppe Tomatore film Cinema Paradiso, which won five BAFTAs.

Colin Farrell-starrer The Banshees Of Inisherin won the second largest number of awards of the night, including both supporting actor categories with wins for Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon.

Writer and director Martin Mcdonagh also won for Original Screenplay and Outstanding British Film, although his swipe at the film’s producer Searchlight — when he quipped that he had landed an award for the script without any notes from the studio — prompted a mixed response from the audience, with some possibly perceiving the comment as arrogant. The director quickly made it clear he wasn’t being serious, saying “kidding, kidding”.

Combined with Tom Berkeley and Ross White’s An Irish Goodbye winning Best Short, it proved a celebratory night for Ireland’s film industry, with Good Luck To You, Leo Grande actor Daryl McCormack, who was nominated for both Best Actor and Rising Star, joking it was the “Irish BAFTAs” on the red carpet ahead of the ceremony.

The top acting awards of the night went to Cate Blanchett and Austin Butler for their respective turns in Tar and Elvis. It was otherwise a disappointing night for Tar, with writer and director Todd Field losing out in the Best Original Screenplay and Best Director categories.

Elvis did marginally better. In addition to Butler’s win the film won in three craft categories: Best Hair and Make-Up, Best Casting and Best Costume. —IANS

Meet the winners

Here’s the complete list…

Best film All Quiet On The Western Front

Best Actor Austin Butler for Elvis

Leading Actress: Cate Blanchett for Tar

Best Director: Edward Berger for All Quiet On The Western Front

Best Supporting Actor: Barry Keoghan for The Banshees Of Inisherin

Best Supporting Actress: Kerry Condon for The Banshees Of Inisherin

Best Adapted Screenplay: All Quiet On The Western Front— Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, Ian Stokell

Best Cinematography: All Quiet On The Western Front—James Friend

Best Animated Film: Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio—Guillermo Del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar, Alex Bulkley

Original Screenplay: The Banshees Of Inisherin: Martin Mcdonagh

Best Documentary: Navalny—Daniel Roher, Diane Becker, Shane Boris, Melanie Miller, Odessa Rae

Original Score: All Quiet On The Western Front— Volker Bertelmann.