“3 Billboards” Wins Big

Feb 19, 2018 | 5:30 AM

The 71st British Academy Film Awards took place on Sunday, February 18th at Royal Albert Hall in London. Fox Searchlight‘s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri was the biggest winner of the night, walking away with the biggie (Best Film) and five wins overall.

Searchlight’s Guillermo del Toro-helmed The Shape of Water also emerged victorious, with three awards, including Best Director. Both films are now considered top contenders for Best Picture and Best Director at the Oscars two Sundays hence.

  • Other notable awards included Best Actor for Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour and Best Actress for Frances McDormand in Three Billboards. Both films had nine nominations going in. Allison Janney won Best Supporting Actress for I, Tonya, Sam Rockwell won Best Supporting Actor in Three Billboards and Daniel Kaluuya nabbed Rising Star for Get Out.
  • Stephen Fry, host of 12 BAFTA ceremonies, passed the honors on to Joanna Lumley, who is best known for her role as Patsy Stone on the BBC‘s Absolutely Fabulous. She was the first female host to present the BAFTAs since Mariella Frostrup co-presented them with Fry in 2001.

POLITICAL FASHION STATEMENTS

  • Several stars donned black on the red carpet to represent their allegiance to Britain’s arm of Hollywood’s Time’s Up movement against sexism and inequality.
  • Many-including Gemma Arterton, Naomie Harris, Tessa Thompson and Gemma Chan-also chose to walk the red carpet with feminist activists instead of their husbands.
  • Others wore badges of support. The much-watched royal Kate Middleton walked the line, donning a dark green Jenny Packham gown with a black ribbon. Royals traditionally avoid making political statements, but in some lights, observers pointed out, the gown looked black. Many are interpreting the dark dress as a tacit but not overt nod to the movement.
  • Among the attendees wearing black Sunday were Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lawrence, Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, Emma Roberts and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
  • While accepting her award, McDormand acknowledged her non-black garb: “As Martin [McDonagh] said, I have a little trouble with compliance. But I want you to know I stand in full solidarity with my sisters tonight in black. I also want to say that I appreciate a well-organized act of civil disobedience.”

TIME’S UP IN BRITAIN

  • More than 200 British and Irish actors-including Carey Mulligan, Kate Winslet, Claire Foy, Noma Dumezweni, Emma Thompson, Jodie Whittaker, Sophie Okonedo, Emma Watson and Saoirse Ronan-also signed an open letter of intent that laid out their demands for change. Thompson also donated $1.4 million to the British anti-harassment fund, dubbed the U.K. Justice and Equality Fund.
  • The letter states in part: “This movement is bigger than just a change in our industry alone. This movement is intersectional, with conversations across race, class, community, ability and work environment, to talk about the imbalance of power.”

CHECK IT OUT:

Read the Full Story on the Letter of Intent: http://bit.ly/2GnCc2C

Read the Full Story on the Ceremony: http://bit.ly/2Ctdtb0

Red Carpet Analysis: http://bbc.in/2EBJlvV

The Full List of Winners:

BEST FILM

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh

DIRECTOR

GUILLERMO DEL TORO
The Shape of Water

LEADING ACTRESS

FRANCES McDORMAND
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

LEADING ACTOR

GARY OLDMAN
Darkest Hour

CINEMATOGRAPHY

BLADE RUNNER 2049
Roger Deakins

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Martin McDonagh

SOUND

DUNKIRK
Alex Gibson, Richard King, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, Mark Weingarten

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

ALLISON JANNEY
I, Tonya

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

I AM NOT A WITCH
Rungano Nyoni (Writer/Director), Emily Morgan (Producer)

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

BLADE RUNNER 2049
Richard R. Hoover, Paul Lambert, Gerd Nefzer, John Nelson

PRODUCTION DESIGN

THE SHAPE OF WATER
Paul Austerberry, Jeff Melvin, Shane Vieau

SUPPORTING ACTOR

SAM ROCKWELL
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
James Ivory

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

THE HANDMAIDEN
Park Chan-wook, Syd Lim

BRITISH SHORT FILM

COWBOY DAVE
Colin O’Toole, Jonas Mortense

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION

POLES APART
Paloma Baeza, Ser En Low

DOCUMENTARY

I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO
Raoul Peck

EDITING

BABY DRIVER
Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss

ANIMATED FILM

COCO
Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson

COSTUME DESIGN

PHANTOM THREAD
Mark Bridges

MAKE UP & HAIR

DARKEST HOUR
David Malinowski, Ivana Primorac, Lucy Sibbick, Kazuhiro Tsuji

ORIGINAL MUSIC

THE SHAPE OF WATER
Alexandre Desplat

EE RISING STAR AWARD
(Voted for by the public)

DANIEL KALUUYA

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin

OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA

Jon Wardle, National Film and Television School