All Quiet On The Western Front wins BAFTA for Best Picture in Top 7 wins; DGA winner ‘Everything everywhere at once’ all but excluded

No news from the western front became the big winner at tonight’s BAFTAs, winning not only Best Picture and Best Director, but a total of 7 awards from 14 nominations. Martin McDonaghs The Banshees by Inisherin next with four wins, including Best British Film, and both Supporting Performance awards. It caught on elvis, which won four awards, including Best Actor for Austin Butler. But longtime awards frontrunners Everything everywhere at once failed to capitalize on success in the US, winning only one award for Best Editing out of 10 nominations.

Earlier that evening, after winning the award for English Language Film Not, All Quiet director Edward Berger reflected on his experience with James Schamus and James Hope’s Good Machine and their production of Ang Lees sensation and sensitivity: “In 1994 I booked plane tickets for Emma Thompson and it was the highlight of my life.”

Accepting his British Film Award, The Banshees by Inisherin Director Martin McDonagh qualified the bonafides of his very Irish film for the award. “Thanks to Rosie, our piggy bank, who was British,” he laughs. “She never made it to the big screen – she was a bit fat – but Jenny did [the starring donkey] loved her and we couldn’t have made the film without her.”

In his pre-broadcast speech tonight, BAFTA chairman Krishnendu Majumdar spoke about the film organisation’s efforts to diversify its nominees and winners, making more than a hundred changes to its rules to ensure a more representative selection. But despite a diverse list of nominations, no significant victory by blacks in the “Big Six” categories will reignite debate about the success of his effort.

All four acting awards went to white cast members, including Kerry Condon for Supporting Actress and Barry Keoghan for Supporting Actor, both for The Banshees by Inisherin. Cate Blanchett won Best Actress tarwhile Austin Butler edged out local favorite Colin Farrell to win the Best Actor award elvis. Charlotte Wells received the award for best debut by a British writer, director or producer for her film After sun.