Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” has been named the best film of 2021 at the EE British Academy Film Awards, which were presented on Sunday in London by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).
Campion’s Western drama has been a favorite all awards season, and it is the one major film not to have a significant stumble on the road to the Academy Awards, which will take place in two weeks. Although questions remain about its vulnerability under the Academy’s preferential system of vote counting, the BAFTA win is a strong indicator that it remains the film to beat, even if BAFTA and Oscar voters have only agreed once in the past eight years.
Will Smith won the leading actor award for “King Richard,” with Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Power of the Dog”) the only other Oscar nominee in the category. In the leading actress category, where not a single nominee is also in the running for an Academy Award, the winner was Joanna Scanlan for “After Love.”
Troy Kotsur won the supporting-actor award for “CODA,” while Ariana DeBose was named Best Supporting Actress for “West Side Story,” which also won for its casting. Both are favorites at the Oscars in those categories, and their BAFTA wins strengthen the feeling that the supporting races are all but decided.
Campion won the best-director award for “The Power of the Dog,” less than 24 hours after receiving the same award at the Directors Guild Awards.
As expected, Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” won the award for Best British Film. Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” won in the Best Film Not in the English Language category, where it too was considered a strong favorite.
“Summer of Soul” won the award for documentary, making a nice recovery after losing Saturday’s Directors Guild Award to “Attica.” “Encanto” won Best Animated Film a day after losing at the Annie Awards to a Netflix and “The Mitchells vs. the Machines” sweep.
In the adapted screenplay category, “CODA” was a surprise winner over “The Power of the Dog” and “The Lost Daughter.” The original-screenplay award went to “Licorice Pizza” over the presumed favorite, “Belfast.”
In below-the-line awards, Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” won for cinematography, sound, production design, visual effects and Hans Zimmer’s score, making it the most-honored film of the year with five wins to two for “Power of the Dog,” “CODA” and “West Side Story.” The James Bond film “No Time to Die” won for editing, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” won for makeup and “Cruella” won for costumes.
“The Harder They Fall” writer-director Jeymes Samuel won the award for the best debut by a British writer, director or producer. In the Rising Star category, which is voted on by the public rather than members of BAFTA, the winner was “No Time to Die” co-star Lashana Lynch.
Going into the ceremony, “Dune” led all films with 11 nominations, followed “The Power of the Dog” with eight and “Belfast” with six.
While all five of BAFTA’s Best Film nominees – “Belfast,” “Don’t Look Up,” “Dune,” “Licorice Pizza” and “The Power of the Dog” – are also nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, nominations in BAFTA’s directing and acting categories were made by small committees with an eye to inclusion and diversity. Those categories differ dramatically from the Oscar nominations, with only three of BAFTA’s six directing nominees and nine of their 24 acting nominees repeating at the Oscars.
But even with that disconnect, which began with rule changes instituted in 2020, BAFTA and Oscar voters pick the same winners much of the time. Last year, the BAFTA winner went on to take the Oscar in a record 18 of the 19 categories that overlap between the two awards. That included “Nomadland” being named the year’s best film at both awards, the first time in seven years they had agreed in that category.
The ceremony took place at the Royal Albert Hall in London, with Rebel Wilson hosting.
Here is the list of nominees. Winners are indicated by **WINNER.
Best Film
“Belfast”
“Don’t Look Up”
“Dune”
“Licorice Pizza”
** WINNER “The Power of the Dog”
Outstanding British Film
“After Love”
“Ali & Ava”
**WINNER “Belfast”
“Boiling Point”
“Cyrano”
“Everybody’s Talking About Jamie”
“House of Gucci”
“Last Night in Soho”
“No Time to Die”
“Passing”
Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
“After Love,” Aleem Khan (Writer/Director)
“Boiling Point,” James Cummings (Writer), Hester Ruoff (Producer) [also written by Philip Barantini and produced by Bart Ruspoli]
** WINNER “The Harder They Fall,” Jeymes Samuel (Writer/Director) [also written by Boaz Yakin]
“Keyboard Fantasies,” Posy Dixon (Writer/Director), Liv Proctor (Producer)
“Passing,” Rebecca Hall (Writer/Director)
Film Not in the English Language
** WINNER “Drive My Car”
“The Hand of God”
“Parallel Mothers”
“Petit Maman”
“The Worst Person in the World”
Documentary
“Becoming Cousteau”
“Cow”
“Flee”
“The Rescue”
** WINNER “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”
Animated Film
** WINNER “Encanto”
“Flee”
“Luca”
“The Mitchells vs. the Machines”
Director
“After Love,” Aleem Khan
“Drive My Car,” Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
“Happening,” Audrey Diwan
“Licorice Pizza,” Paul Thomas Anderson
**WINNER “The Power of the Dog,” Jane Campion
“Titane,” Julia Ducournau
Original Screenplay
“Being the Ricardos,” Aaron Sorkin
“Belfast,” Kenneth Branagh
“Don’t Look Up,” Adam McKay
“King Richard,” Zach Baylin
** WINNER “Licorice Pizza,” Paul Thomas Anderson
Adapted Screenplay
** WINNER “CODA,” Siân Heder
“Drive My Car,” Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
“Dune,” Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts, Denis Villeneuve
“The Lost Daughter,” Maggie Gyllenhaal
“The Power of the Dog,” Jane Campion
Leading Actress
Lady Gaga, “House of Gucci”
Alana Haim, “Licorice Pizza”
Emilia Jones, “CODA”
Renate Reinsve, “The Worst Person in the World”
** WINNER Joanna Scanlan, “After Love”
Tessa Thompson, “Passing”
Leading Actor
Adeel Akhtar, “Ali & Ava”
Mahershala Ali, “Swan Song”
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “Don’t Look Up”
Stephen Graham, “Boiling Point”
** WINNER Will Smith, “King Richard”
Supporting Actress
Caitriona Balfe, “Belfast”
Jessie Buckley, “The Lost Daughter”
** WINNER Ariana DeBose, “West Side Story”
Ann Dowd, “Mass”
Aunjanue Ellis, “King Richard”
Ruth Negga, “Passing”
Supporting Actor
Mike Faist, “West Side Story”
Ciaran Hinds, “Belfast”
**WINNER Troy Kotsur, “CODA”
Woody Norman, “C’mon C’mon”
Jesse Plemons, “The Power of the Dog”
Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog”
Original Score
“Being the Ricardos,” Daniel Pemberton
“Don’t Look Up,” Nicholas Britell
**WINNER “Dune,” Hans Zimmer
“The French Dispatch,” Alexandre Desplat
“The Power of the Dog,” Jonny Greenwood
Casting
“Boiling Point,” Carolyn McLeod
“Dune,” Francine Maisler
“The Hand of God,” Massimo Appolloni, Annamaria Sambucco
“King Richard,” Rich Delia, Avy Kaufman
**WINNER “West Side Story,” Cindy Tolan
Cinematography
**WINNER “Dune,” Greig Fraser
“Nightmare Alley,” Dan Laustsen
“No Time to Die,” Linus Sandgren
“The Power of the Dog,” Ari Wegner
“The Tragedy of Macbeth,” Bruno Delbonnel
Editing
“Belfast,” Una Ni Dhonghaile
“Dune,” Joe Walker
“Licorice Pizza,” Andy Jurgensen
** WINNER “No Time to Die,” Tom Cross, Elliot Graham
“Summer of Soul,” Joshua L. Pearson
Production Design
“Cyrano,” Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
** WINNER “Dune,” Patrice Vermette, Zsuzsanna Sipos
“The French Dispatch,” Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo
“Nightmare Alley,” Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau
“West Side Story,” Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo
Costume Design
** WINNER “Cruella,” Jenny Beavan
“Cyrano,” Massimo Cantini Parrini
“Dune,” Robert Morgan, Jacqueline West
“The French Dispatch,” Milena Canonero
“Nightmare Alley,” Luis Sequeira
Make Up & Hair
“Cruella,” Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne
“Cyrano,” Alessandro Bertolazzi, Sian Miller
“Dune,” Love Larson, Donald Mowat
**WINNER “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram, Justin Raleigh
“House of Gucci,” Frederic Aspiras, Jane Carboni, Giuliano Mariana, Sarah Nicole Tanno
Sound
** WINNER “Dune,” Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Doug Hemphill, Theo Green, Ron Bartlett
“Last Night in Soho,” Colin Nicolson, Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin, Dan Morgan
“No Time to Die,” James Harrison, Simon Hayes, Paul Massey, Oliver Tarney, Mark Taylor
“A Quiet Place Part II,” Erik Aadahl, Michael Barosky, Brandon Proctor, Ethan Van Der Ryn
“West Side Story,” Brian Chumney, Tod Maitland, Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom
Special Visual Effects
**WINNER “Dune,” Brian Connor, Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Gerd Nefzer
“Free Guy,” Swen Gillberg, Brian Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis, Daniel Sudick
“Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” Aharon Bourland, Sheena Duggal, Pier Lefebvre, Alessandro Ongaro
“The Matrix Resurrections,” Tom Debenham, Hew J Evans, Dan Glass, J. D. Schwaim
“No Time to Die,” Mark Bokowski, Chris Corbould, Joel Green, Charlie Noble
British Short Animation
“Affairs of the Art”
**WINNER “Do Not Feed the Pigeons”
“Night of the Living Dread”
British Short Film
**WINNER “The Black Cop”
“Femme”
“The Palace”
“Stuffed”
“Three Meetings of the Extraordinary Committee”
EE Rising Star Award (voted for by the public)
Ariana DeBose
Harris Dickinson
**WINNER Lashana Lynch
Millicent Simmonds
Kodi Smit-McPhee
