La La Land wins big at politically charged BAFTA

La La Land, a feel-good movie exuding an old world charm, clinched the Best Film title, along with a Best Director for Damien Chazelle, Best Leading Actress for Emma Stone, Best Cinematography for Linus Sandgren and Best Original Music for Justin Hurwitz. The movie’s lead star Ryan Gosling missed out on the Best Actor going to Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea, and Chazelle was pipped to the Best Original Screenplay prize by Kenneth Lonergan for the same film. But largely, the awards at the historic Royal Albert Hall were spread widely.

Movies like Manchester by the Sea, Fences, Lion, Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, Jackie and Florence Foster Jenkins won, while Moonlight seemed to have been eclipsed by them all at the gala, attended by Duke of Cambridge Prince William and Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton.

In the Supporting Actor category, Dev Patel’s act in Lion — which also won the Best Adapted Screenplay for Luke Davies — won among the men, and among the women, audience favourite Viola Davis took home the honour for her powerful performance in Fences. She took a dig at US President Donald Trump, saying, “Anyone who labels Meryl Streep ‘overrated’ doesn’t know anything about acting.” 

Lonergan told the audience how his 15-year-old daughter had woken in tears after Donald Trump was elected, but had since been on five protest marches since. “I’m very, very proud of her,” he added. 

Before the official start of the ceremony itself, BAFTA chair Jane Lush commented on diversity issues within the industry. Lush said it was shocking that in the 21st Century “your gender, race, and background can still hold you back”. Lush also remarked on the success of British talent in US, commenting that she feared “someone might build a wall across the Atlantic”.

Stephen Fry, hosting the gala for the 12th time, while welcoming Streep to the ceremony, said Streep was “one of the greatest actresses of all time. Only a blithering idiot would think otherwise.”

Other award winners — Jackie won the Best Costume Design Award, Arrival won Best Sound, Hacksaw Ridge won Best Editing, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them got Best Production Design. Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes’s Son of Saul won the Best Film Not in the English Language, while Kubo and the Two Strings emerged as a surprise winner in the Animated Film category. The Jungle Book won for special visual effects.