BAFTA 2024: "Conclave" and "The Brutalist" Lead Wins

The 78th British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) ceremony took place on February 16th at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts presented two major awards to the film "Conclave" by Edward Berger, which was recognized as both the Best Film and the Best British Film. The film also won in the categories of Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing.

"Conclave" shared the top spot in the number of awards with the war drama "The Brutalist," despite the controversy surrounding its use of artificial intelligence. The team took home Golden Masks in the categories of Best Original Score and Best Cinematography, and Brady Corbet and Adrien Brody were recognized as Best Director and Best Actor, respectively.

BAFTA also chose not to ignore another controversial project of the year, Jacques Audiard's musical "Emilia Perez." The jury named it Best Non-English Language Film, and Zoe Saldana won Best Supporting Actress. However, Karla Sofia Gascon, whose tweets and unauthorized interview with Netflix have been the subject of much discussion for weeks, did not appear on the red carpet. Although the director, while accepting the award on stage, did address the actress.

In the race for the title of Best Supporting Actor, the victory went to Kieran Culkin. Culkin did not attend the ceremony, and the award was accepted on his behalf by the director and screenwriter of "A Real Pain," Jesse Eisenberg.

Among those present at the event were the stars of "Conclave," Isabella Rossellini and Ralph Fiennes, Timothy Chalamet and Monica Barbaro ("Bob Dylan: No Direction Home"), Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong ("The Apprentice"), Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo ("Wicked"), as well as Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet, Pamela Anderson, and others.

The ceremony was hosted for the second year in a row by David Tennant, known for the television series "Doctor Who." Prince William, President of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts since 2010, and his wife, Kate Middleton, did not attend the awards. Instead, a video message from him was shown to the guests. According to the Daily Mail, the couple and their children flew off on vacation to the island of Mustique in the Caribbean.

Full list of BAFTA winners: