Baftas 2022: Seven highlights – from jokes to dresses

Dune may have won the most awards, but The Power of the Dog proved too strong to make it into the night’s top categories at Sunday’s Bafta Film Awards.

The western starring Benedict Cumberbatch took home best picture and best director awards for Jane Campion, ahead of the Oscars later this month.

Elsewhere, Rebel Wilson has made a solid hosting debut while the likes of Will Smith, Troy Kotsur and Ariana DeBose cement their status as Oscars leads.

Here are seven highlights from this year’s ceremony, which marks the return of a full-capacity live event at the Royal Albert Hall.

Baftas is a more serious and formal affair than many other awards ceremonies, and it can be quite difficult to get laughter from the audience.

As a result, some of the Rebel Wilson host’s jokes were a bit uneven, but we think overall, the Australian comic actress did a great job, delivering some simple narratives. in her opening monologue.

“Next time, I think I’ll refer to the weather report, and maybe wear a little less fabric?” the best supporting actress winner told the press backstage behind the slightly rainy red carpet.

But what many people don’t know, her stunning Oscar de la Renta dress actually doubled as a political statement – when paired with her West Side Story co-stars.

“Has anyone seen what Rachel Zegler is wearing? Because the two of us stand with Ukraine, it’s like seriously, we’re reflecting it with color,” she said.

It was not the only reference to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the ceremony. Woody Norman, C’Mon’s 13-year-old star C’Mon, and Boiling Point star Stephen Graham both wear ribbons on their clothes in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Meanwhile, Benedict Cumberbatch wears a blue and gold badge.

“It’s horrible what we’re seeing every day” he told BBC News on the red carpet. “We must all continue to put pressure on the Putin regime, continue to help in any way we can, whether it’s donations or housing refugees, all these things I’m trying to do and did.”

The musician’s film Summer of Soul was picked as the best documentary, but we’re mostly just impressed that he’s sane enough for Baftas given his packed schedule.

Questlove traveled from the DGA Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday night to Baftas in London on Sunday afternoon. Oh, and he also has to go back to LA for his regular job Monday night – his band The Roots is the home band on an American talk show.

“I’ll go straight to the airport [after the Baftas] and tomorrow I have to work on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” he explained, but added that there was one last place he wanted to visit before leaving London.

“Actually, when she was with us, Amy Winehouse introduced me to a place called Beigel Bake, which is a 24-hour bakery. When we started our friendship, that’s how she always ended up. ends my London trip, so I always go there and honor her.”

If you happen to be going to Brick Lane on a Sunday night, it’s really the Questlove you’ve seen buying a rainbow bagel.

Other content of Baftas 2022:

The Coda star has become a favorite during awards season and has a big chance of winning the Academy Award for best supporting actor after his Bafta win.

“I feel it’s a great payback for many years of an extremely difficult journey,” the deaf actor said backstage through an interpreter. “Sometimes it was hell, I felt like a survivor.

“There were times when I slept in the back of the car, surfing on the couch, and on the set of A Streetcar Named Desire, I slept on the bed on set because it was so hard for me to survive as a starving actor. .”

Kotsur is currently receiving the most recognition of her career thanks to Coda, which was directed and adapted by Sian Heder.

“It took a long time for Hollywood to accept actors who happened to be deaf. For Coda, it was really the right team, the right director, the right script,” he said.

The After Love star won the Bafta Best Actress award, although the film hasn’t been a staple at other awards ceremonies this season.

Scanlan is perhaps best known for her role in the brilliant political satire on television The Thick Of It, so her first Bafta for a movie role means she’s more than likely. focus on future film projects?

“Oh, movies and TV are changing, aren’t they? So I guess I’ll change with it,” she said.

“Some boundaries are collapsing and the way we tell stories is changing because of the platform on which we’re taking those stories. So I’m going with that flow, with that wave.”

At Baftas, best editorial winners Elliot Graham and Tom Cross from No Time To Die were asked what they thought of the Academy’s decision, which has been unpopular in the electrical industry. Photo.

“I’m glad you asked that. Speaking for myself, I’m not a fan,” Cross said. “I think it ends the whole process – that’s not what the Academy of Film, Arts and Sciences is about.

“I feel lucky to have been there before, and I just think every Oscar statuette is gold – it’s not silver, it’s not bronze. All of those nominations are well deserved. up.”

His co-winner, Elliot Graham, agrees: “I grew up wanting to be an Academy member, it was a dream come true, and I think it is. [messed] up, they need to think about it. “

After Drive My Car was named best non-English film, director Ryusuke Hamaguchi opened his acceptance speech by joking, “Wow, that got me out of a slump. after the plane, thanks!”

Further explaining behind the scenes of the press conference, he said, “I just arrived in this country yesterday, so it’s about 5 am Japan time.”

Following in the footsteps of recent major award players such as Roma, Parasite and Minari, Hamaguchi acknowledges how attitudes towards subtitled films have changed.

“What makes us feel that is the change and acceptance of these films in the UK and US,” he said. “The influence of Parasite two years ago on this was huge, and the next generation of Asian films is ready to go.”

With just two weeks to go, all eyes will now be on the Oscars Ceremony on March 27, which will mark the culmination of awards season.