Papal drama Conclave won four prizes, including best picture, at the British Academy Film Awards on Sunday.
The Brutalist, a post-Second World War odyssey about a Hungarian architect building a life in the United States, also won four trophies, including best director for Brady Corbet. The film’s star, Adrien Brody, took the prize for best actor, while Mikey Madison won the best actress prize for Anora, in which she plays the eponymous exotic dancer entangled with a Russian oligarch’s son.
Conclave, which stars Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal corralling conniving clergy as they elect a new pope, was nominated in a total of 12 categories and won for outstanding British film, editing and adapted screenplay.
The narco-musical Emilia Pérez had 11 nominations, including best picture and best director for Jacques Audiard. It won the prize for best film not in the English language.
Best actress nominee Karla Sofia Gascón, who stars as the titular transgender ex-cartel boss in Emilia Pérez, wasn’t at the ceremony. Gascón has withdrawn from promoting the film, which has 13 Oscar nominations, amid controversy over her social media posts disparaging Muslims, George Floyd and diversity at the Oscars.
Audiard has condemned those comments, but in his acceptance speech he thanked Gascón and her co-stars, Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez.
“I am deeply proud of what we have all achieved together,” he said.
Saldaña was named best supporting actress for her role as a lawyer who helps the title character transition to a woman and out of a life of crime. She called the film “the creative challenge of a lifetime.”
Kieran Culkin was named best supporting actor for A Real Pain, about odd-couple cousins who take a trip to Poland to explore their roots. The film’s writer, director and co-star, Jesse Eisenberg, took the BAFTA for best original screenplay.
“I’d like to share this with my wife, who didn’t come because she didn’t think I’d win,” Eisenberg quipped.
