Two big prizes for CODA provided the biggest surprises at the 2022 BAFTA film awards, while The Power of the Dog continued its winning streak.
The BAFTA film awards returned to a fully physical edition for the first time in two years at London’s Royal Albert Hall, where they were presented by Rebel Wilson. (A reward, perhaps, for giving the best speech at the 2020 awards, when she announced the winner of the all-male nominated Best Director award.) It was not as starry as usual, which might be less down to the continuing impact of COVID and more to do with the fact that this ceremony clashed with the Critics’ Choice Awards in the US.
With a few notable exceptions, this year’s winners fell in line with bookies and critics’ expectations. The Power of the Dog and Belfast were the frontrunners for the night’s top prizes, so it was no surprise to see Jane Campion’s Western taking the Best Film and Best Director awards, while Branagh’s much loved semi-autobiographical portrait of his childhood picked up Best British Film. This clears the way for a similar battle at the Academy Awards in a few weeks.
The Power of the Dog (2021)
Dune led the way in the technical and craft categories. It walked away with Best Cinematography (Greig Fraser), Production Design (Patrice Vermette, Zsuzsanna Sipos), Sound (Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Doug Hemphill, Theo Green, Ron Bartlett) and Visual Effects (Brian Connor, Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Gerd Nefzer). It failed to win Best Costume Design, which was awarded to Jenny Beavan – her fourth BAFTA – for Cruella. Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh shared the Best Makeup and Hair award for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. And Best Editing went to the No Time to Die team of Tom Cross and Elliot Graham. Dune also picked up Best Original Score. Hans Zimmer’s win was a surprise for some, who had Jonny Greenwood pegged to win with his music for The Power of the Dog.
Dune (2021)
Arguably the biggest, yet welcome, surprise of the evening was CODA writer-director Siân Heder’s win for Best Adapted Screenplay. Bookies had Campion leading the pack, but Heder’s film has gradually been gaining ground over the past few months, and will now be seen as a significant contender at the Academy Awards. Cast member Troy Kotsur also picked up the Best Supporting Actor BAFTA. After his recent win at the SAGs, he is surely now the frontrunner in this category.
Elsewhere in the acting nominations, Joanna Scanlan receiving the Best Actress award for her searing performance in After Love was a popular win, while Will Smith taking Best Actor for his impressive portrayal of Venus and Serena Williams’ father in King Richard cements his position as the unbeatable favourite of this awards season. Alongside Kotsur, Ariana DeBose received the Best Supporting Actress award for her charismatic take on Anita in West Side Story.
Paul Thomas Anderson received the Best Original Screenplay Award for Licorice Pizza. It likely came as a surprise to some. The bookie’s favourite was Kenneth Branagh for Belfast. It marks a rare win for Anderson, who has previously been nominated for seven BAFTAs. Jeymes Samuel’s hugely entertaining The Harder They Fall walked away with the Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer award, while Lashana Lynch, the scene-stealing star of No Time to Die won the most audience votes to receive the EE Rising Star award.
Japanese drama Drive My Car received the Best Film Not in the English Language award and its director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi gave the evening’s most charming speech. Questlove’s euphoric Summer of Soul (or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) won Best Documentary, while Disney’s Encanto was voted Best Animated Film. The wins position these films ahead of their competitors for the Academy Awards; however, previous years have shown that a win at the BAFTAs doesn’t always follow through at the Oscars.
Finally, Jordi Morera’s Do Not Feed the Pigeons and Cherish Oteka The Black Cop won, respectively, British Short Animation and British Short Film.
No Time to Die (2021)
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COMPLETE WINNERS LIST
Best Film
Outstanding British Film
Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
The Harder They Fall
Film Not in the English Language
Documentary
Summer of Soul (or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
Animated Film
Encanto
Director
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)
Original Screenplay
Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson)
Adapted Screenplay
CODA (Siân Heder)
Leading Actress
Joanna Scanlan (After Love)
Leading Actor
Will Smith (King Richard)
Supporting Actress
Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)
Supporting Actor
Troy Kotsur (CODA)
Original Score
Dune (Hans Zimmer)
Casting
West Side Story (Cindy Tolan)
Cinematography
Dune (Greig Fraser)
Editing
No Time to Die (Tom Cross, Elliot Graham)
Production Design
Dune (Patrice Vermette, Zsuzsanna Sipos)
Costume Design
Cruella (Jenny Beavan)
Makeup and Hair
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram, Justin Raleigh)
Sound
Dune (Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Doug Hemphill, Theo Green, Ron Bartlett)
Special Visual Effects
Dune (Brian Connor, Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Gerd Nefzer)
British Short Animation
Do Not Feed the Pigeons (Jordi Morera)
British Short Film
The Black Cop (Cherish Oteka)
EE Rising Star award
Lashana Lynch