1917 picks up seven awards at BAFTA 2020; no surprises in the acting awards

Sam Mendes' war drama, 1917, continued to dominate the awards season, as it bagged seven wins in this year's BAFTA. While the awards did hold centre stage, Joaquin Phoenix, who won the BAFTA for Best Actor, stole the limelight with his powerful speech about inclusion and systemic racism in the industry. 

Phoenix, who was awarded the Bafta for his titular performance in Joker, accused the industry of sending out "a clear message to people of colour that you are not welcome here."

Both the British Academy of Film and Television and Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences were heavily criticised for the lack of representation and diversity after the nominations were announced. 

Prince William, who presented this year's BAFTA Fellowship to Star Wars producer Kathleen Kennedy, also addressed the issue. "We find ourselves talking again about the need to do more to address diversity in the sector. That cannot be right in this day and age," he said.

1917, which won the Best British Film, Best Director, and Best Film awards, also took home the BAFTAs for cinematography, production design, sound, and special visual effects.

While it was heavily expected that Phoenix would win the Best Actor BAFTA, Joker also won the awards for Best Original Score and Casting categories. Renee Zellweger, who won a Golden Globe for Judy, added a BAFTA for the same on Sunday. 

Just like Phoenix, Brad Pitt and Laura Dern too seem to be winning all the awards there are for the Best Supporting Actor/Actress categories, and it wasn't any different at the BAFTAs as they picked up the awards for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Marriage Story, respectively.

Awards-favourite Parasite, South Korean director Bong-Joon Ho's film won for original screenplay and 'film not in the English language'. Meanwhile, the BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay went to Taika Waititi for Jojo Rabbit. 

Jay Roach-directed Bombshell, based on the accounts of several women at Fox News who set out to expose CEO Roger Ailes for sexual harassment, picked up best hair and make-up trophies.

Greta Gerwig's adaptation of Little Women secured a win in the best costume category and Ford v Ferrari, was adjudged the film with the best editing.

Actor-director Andy Serkis was honoured with the outstanding British contribution to film award, which was presented to him by veteran theatre and film actor, Ian McKellen.

Micheal Ward, known for Top Boy and Blue Story, was named the Bafta rising star.

Klaus took home the BAFTA for best animation and Grandad was a Romantic was named the best British short animation. Learning to Skateboard in a war zone (If you're a girl) won the best British short film award.

Sama, a film about a young mother's experience of the Syrian civil war, won the best documentary BAFTA, and Bait was named outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer.