1917 dominates 2020 Film BAFTAs

Sam Mendes’ war film picked up seven awards, with Joaquin Phoenix, Renée Zellweger and Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite also impressing

George MacKay in 1917 (Universal) — Universal

Huw Fullerton

Published: Sunday, 2 February 2020 at 10:30 pm

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Stylish war movie 1917 has emerged triumphant after the 2020 BAFTA Film awards, winning seven awards including Best Picture, Best Director (for Sam Mendes) and Outstanding British Film.

Also picking up gongs for sound, production design, special visual effects and cinematography, 1917 was definitely the big winner of the night, even if it hadn’t managed to pick up nominations for lead actors George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman.

Other notable winners on the night included Joker’s Joaquin Phoenix for Best Actor (with Phoenix using his speech to address the lack of diversity in the acting community at large), Renée Zellweger for Best Actress and Brad Pitt for Best Supporting Actor, with the latter unable to attend but having Margot Robbie deliver a gag-filled speech in his absence.

South Korean director Bong-Joon Ho also impressed, picking up awards for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original screenplay for his critically-acclaimed thriller Parasite while Taika Waititi was awarded the Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA.

BAFTA Film 2020: The Biggest and Best Moments

While there were no major shocks on the night (which was characterised by some very pointed jokes about the #BAFTAsSoWhite controversry) it was a disappointing showing for films like The Irishman with Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic picking up no awards despite having nine nominations.

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British director Sam Mendes poses with the award for a Director for his work on the film '1917' at the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London on February 2, 2020. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP) (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images) — British director Sam Mendes poses with the award for a Director for his work on the film '1917' at the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London on February 2, 2020. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP) Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images

Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood only picked up the award for Pitt, Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story had to settle for Laura Dern’s Best Supporting Actress win, and Greta Gerwig’s Little Women only bagged a win in the Costume category.

So what does this all mean for next week’s Oscars? Well, possibly not a lot – British movie 1917 was bound to have a home advantage, and may not perform quite as well in the States – but it definitely indicates good chances for Jojo Rabbit, Phoenix, Parasite and Pitt ahead of the Academy Awards on the 7th February.

You can read a full list of the 2020 BAFTA winners here.