Payal Kapadia’s critically acclaimed movie “All We Imagine As Light" lost out the BAFTA in the Best Film Not in the English Language category to French title “Emilia Perez".
British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri’s “Santosh", British-Indian director Karan Kandhari’s “Sister Midnight" and Indian-origin British actor Dev Patel’s directorial debut “Monkey Man" missed out on a BAFTA in the Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer segment.
The award in this category went to Irish filmmaker Rich Peppiatt for his film “Kneecap", which depicts the rise of Kneecap, an Irish hip-hop trio from Belfast, Northern Ireland. “Hoard" by Luna Carmoon was also one of the nominees in this segment.
The win for “Emilia Perez" comes as a surprise given the controversy surrounding its lead star Karla Sofia Gascon’s old tweets, which were viewed as Islamophobic and racist. The film’s second lead Zoe Saldana took home the BAFTA in the Supporting Actress segment.
Directed by Jacques Audiard, “Emilia Perez" follows four remarkable women in Mexico, each pursuing their own happiness. Cartel leader Emilia (Gascon) enlists Rita (Saldana), an unappreciated lawyer, to help fake her death so that she can finally live authentically as her true self.
Though the film’s team and Netflix have distanced themselves from Gascon, Audiard thanked her in his speech though she was missing from the ceremony.
“I would like to thank all the wonderful artists who brought this film to life and who are here with us tonight. My dear Zoe, my dear Selena, Giorgini, Paul, Juliet, Camille, Clement, Julia and your team, but also you, my dear Karla Sofia, that I kiss. I’m deeply proud of what we achieved together. Long live ‘Emilia Perez’," he said in his speech.
Though Kapadia’s film “All We Imagine As Light", which revolves around two Malayali nurses in Mumbai and their friendships, missed out at the BAFTAs, it has already created history by becoming the first from India to win the Grand Prix at the Cannes in May last year.
Hours after the ceremony, the official Instagram page of Kapadia’s film shared a picture of the director mingling with fellow artists.
“Win or lose, good year for Indian films internationally @allweimagineaslightfilm," read the caption of the Instagram Story.
Earlier this year, “Emilia Perez" also won the Golden Globe in the Best Motion Picture Non-English Language category, beating out “All We Imagine…", “The Girl With the Needle", “I’m Still Here", “The Seed of the Sacred Fig" and “Vermiglio".
Other films nominated for the Film Not in the English Language BAFTA were: “I’m Still Here" (Portuguese), “Kneecap" (Irish/English), and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig" (Persian).
At the ceremony, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, papal thriller “Conclave" — fronted by Ralph Fiennes — emerged as the Best Film. It also earned the award for Best British Film as well.
Brady Corbet won the Director BAFTA for “The Brutalist", which also saw lead star Adrien Brody bag the Best Actor award.
Mikey Madison won Best Actress BAFTA for “Anora", with Kieran Culkin being adjudged Best Supporting Actor for “A Real Pain".
Scottish actor David Tennant, star of “Doctor Who" and “Good Omens", hosted the BAFTAs for the second time.
