BAFTA 2017

500 Days Of Film Reviews The 2017 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards

2017's BAFTA Awards were a rather low key, inoffensive affair. While the event, hosted by Stephen Fry, did contain more than a few Brexit/Trump gags, the theme of the evening was one of international empathy and compassion.

The only truly passionate acceptance speech came (unsurprisingly) from Ken Loach. After I, Daniel Blake won the award for Outstanding British Film, Loach attacked the UK Government for displaying "callous brutality" towards the most vulnerable in our society. He also called the UK's treatment of child refugees a "disgrace".  

La La Land was the biggest winner on the night but, with five awards, Damien Chazelle's musical far from dominated the evening. Dev Patel was a surprise choice for Best Supporting Actor for Lion and Travis Knight looked genuinely shocked when Kubo And The Two Strings beat Zootroplois to win Best Animated Film.

Overall, the winners were distributed over a number of films with Manchester By The Sea, Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, Jackie and Fences all collecting awards. However, this fairly even spread only served to highlight the absence of awards for Barry Jenkins' superb Moonlight.  A disappointment for such a powerful and deserving film.

Here are the all the winners from BAFTA 2017!  

Nominees: 

• AMERICAN HONEY - Andrea Arnold, Lars Knudsen, Pouya Shahbazian, Jay Van Hoy
• DENIAL - Mick Jackson, Gary Foster, Russ Krasnoff, David Hare
• FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM - David Yates, David Heyman, Steve Kloves, J.K. Rowling, Lionel Wigram
• I, DANIEL BLAKE - Ken Loach, Rebecca O'Brien, Paul Laverty
• NOTES ON BLINDNESS - Peter Middleton, James Spinney, Mike Brett, Jo-Jo Ellison, Steve Jamison
• UNDER THE SHADOW - Babak Anvari, Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan Toh

Winner: I Daniel Blake

Such a tough category full of powerful nominees. I loved Notes On Blindness and Under The Shadow was my favourite film of 2016. However, on balance, I was glad that I, Daniel Blake won.

Nominees:

• ANYA TAYLOR-JOY
• LAIA COSTA
• LUCAS HEDGES
• RUTH NEGGA
• TOM HOLLAND

Winner: Tom Holland

This is the only award voted for by the British public. It was, perhaps, unsurprising therefore that our new Spidey, Tom Holland, won. However, I would have picked Anya Taylor-Joy. She was just superb in The Witch and, following performances in Morgan and Split, is certainly an actress to watch out for in the future. 

Nominees:

• ARRIVAL - Eric Heisserer
• HACKSAW RIDGE - Andrew Knight, Robert Schenkkan
• HIDDEN FIGURES - Theodore Melfi, Allison Schroeder
• LION - Luke Davies
• NOCTURNAL ANIMALS - Tom Ford

Winner: Lion

While I enjoyed Lion, I was surprised by this result as I felt that either Arrival or Nocturnal Animals should have won this award. 

Nominees:

• HAYLEY SQUIRES - I, Daniel Blake
• MICHELLE WILLIAMS - Manchester by the Sea
• NAOMIE HARRIS - Moonlight
• NICOLE KIDMAN - Lion
• VIOLA DAVIS - Fences

Winner: Viola Davis

This is a tricky one for me as I have yet to see Fences. However, I have heard exciting things about Viola Davis' work in this film and was very pleased to see her collect this award in what was an extremely competitive category.

Nominees:

• FINDING DORY - Andrew Stanton
• KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS - Travis Knight
• MOANA -  Ron Clements, John Musker
• ZOOTROPOLIS - Byron Howard, Rich Moore

Winner: Kubo And The Two Strings

I really wanted Kubo And The Two Strings to win this award. However, I thought that Zootropolis would pip Laika's animation to the post. It was wonderful, therefore, to see Travis Knight collect the film's very well deserved Bafta. 

Nominees:

• ARRIVAL - Louis Morin
• DOCTOR STRANGE - Richard Bluff, Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Jonathan Fawkner
• FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM - Tim Burke, Pablo Grillo, Christian Manz, David Watkins
• THE JUNGLE BOOK - Robert Legato, Dan Lemmon, Andrew R. Jones, Adam Valdez
• ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY - Neil Corbould, Hal Hickel, Mohen Leo, John Knoll, Nigel Sumner

Winner: Jungle Book

The visual effects work (undertaken by a team of 800 artists) in The Jungle Book is truly incredible. While I had a hankering for Rogue One, I was happy to see John Favreau's film win out on the night.

Nominees:

• The Girl With All the Gifts - MIKE CAREY (Writer), CAMILLE GATIN (Producer)
• The Hard Stop - GEORGE AMPONSAH (Writer/Director/Producer), DIONNE WALKER (Writer/Producer)
• Notes on Blindness - PETER MIDDLETON (Writer/Director/Producer), JAMES SPINNEY (Writer/Director/Producer), JO-JO ELLISON (Producer)
• The Pass - JOHN DONNELLY (Writer), BEN A. WILLIAMS (Director)
• Under the Shadow - BABAK ANVARI (Writer/Director), EMILY LEO, OLIVER ROSKILL, LUCAN TOH (Producers) 

Winner: Under The Shadow

Another tough category. I loved both The Hard Stop and Notes On Blindness. However, there was only one winner for me (and for Bafta) and that was Under The Shadow. Babak Anvari's film is a horror gem and surely now deserves a cinema re-release.

Nominees

• AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON - Nocturnal Animals
• DEV PATEL - Lion
• HUGH GRANT - Florence Foster Jenkins
• JEFF BRIDGES - Hell or High Water
• MAHERSHALA ALI - Moonlight

Winner: Dev Patel

Dev Patel was obviously utterly overwhelmed after winning this award. As a result, it is hard to dispute the result. However, my vote would have been for Mahershala Ali's incredible performance in Moonlight.

This award was presented by the superb Isabelle Huppert to Curzon Group CEO, Philip Knatchbull. The ensuing montage of films that have received support from Curzon was really something to behold. I am a big fan of Curzon At Home and was delighted to see the Group win this award. Knatchbull gave a lovely speech, one that concluded with a warning about Brexit's potential impact on independent film.

Nominees:

• HELL OR HIGH WATER - Taylor Sheridan
• I, DANIEL BLAKE Paul Laverty
• LA LA LAND Damien Chazelle
• MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Kenneth Lonergan
• MOONLIGHT Barry Jenkins

Winner: Manchester By The Sea

In what was another tough category (I particularly loved the screenplay for Hell Or High Water), I was delighted to see Kenneth Lonergan's devastating Manchester By The Sea win the Bafta Award.

Nominiees:

• ANDREW GARFIELD Hacksaw Ridge
• CASEY AFFLECK Manchester by the Sea
• JAKE GYLLENHAAL Nocturnal Animals
• RYAN GOSLING La La Land
• VIGGO MORTENSEN Captain Fantastic

Winner: Casey Affleck

Casey Affleck does so much with his character, Lee Chandler, in Manchester By The Sea. He is devastated, grief stricken, and haunted. However, his performance is also endearingly funny. There could be no other winner.

Nominees:

• ARRIVAL - Denis Villeneuve
• I, DANIEL BLAKE - Ken Loach
• LA LA LAND - Damien Chazelle
• MANCHESTER BY THE SEA - Kenneth Lonergan
• NOCTURNAL ANIMALS - Tom Ford

Winner: Damien Chazelle

No surprise to see the director of La La Land walk away with this award. While each nominated director should be celebrated, Damien Chazelle is perhaps most deserving - he has created an exciting, wonderful, poignant and joyous film experience. 

Nominees:

• AMY ADAMS - Arrival
• EMILY BLUNT - The Girl on the Train
• EMMA STONE - La La Land
• MERYL STREEP - Florence Foster Jenkins
• NATALIE PORTMAN - Jackie

Winner: Emma Stone

Fighting off strong competition from Natalie Portman, Emma Stone finally bagged her BAFTA and it seems there's no her now. She fully deserves this award for her fresh, nuanced and moving performance as Mia in La La Land. However, I also want to give Amy Adams an award for Arrival.

Nominees:

• ARRIVAL - Dan Levine, Shawn Levy, David Linde, Aaron Ryder
• I, DANIEL BLAKE - Rebecca O'Brien
• LA LA LAND - Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz, Marc Platt
• MANCHESTER BY THE SEA - Lauren Beck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Kimberly Steward, Kevin J. Walsh
• MOONLIGHT - Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski

Winner: La La Land

Again, no surprise here for the superb La La Land.

Nominees:

• ARRIVAL - Bradford Young
• HELL OR HIGH WATER - Giles Nuttgens
• LA LA LAND - Linus Sandgren
• LION - Greig Fraser
• NOCTURNAL ANIMALS - Seamus McGarvey

Winner: Linus Sandgren

When the BAFTA nominations were announced, I was surprised that Moonlight's DPP, James Laxton, had been left off the list for best cinematography. Of the nominees in this category, I was glad that Linus Sandgren won for La La Land.

Nominees:

• 13th - Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick, Howard Barish
• THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK - THE TOURING YEARS - Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Scott Pascucci, Nigel Sinclair
• THE EAGLE HUNTRESS - Otto Bell, Stacey Reiss
• NOTES ON BLINDNESS - Peter Middleton, James Spinney
• WEINER - Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg

Winner: 13th

I love both Weiner and Notes On Blindness and would wholeheartedly recommend both of these films. However, I was also thrilled to see Ava DuVernay's powerful documentary, 13th, win this award.

Nominees:

• DHEEPAN - Jacques Audiard, Pascal Caucheteux
• JULIETA - Pedro Almodóvar, Agustín Almodóvar
• MUSTANG - Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Charles Gillibert
• SON OF SAUL - László Nemes, Gábor Sipos
• TONI ERDMANN - Maren Ade, Janine Jackowsk

Winner: Son Of Saul

It felt rather strange to see Son Of Saul and Mustang included in this list, as they were both nominees for last year's Academy Awards. However, the devastating Son Of Saul is an extremely worthy winner nonetheless. 

Nominees:

• ARRIVAL - Jóhann Jóhannsson
• JACKIE - Mica Levi
• LA LA LAND - Justin Hurwitz
• LION - Dustin O'Halloran, Hauschka
• NOCTURNAL ANIMALS - Abel Korzeniowski

Winner: Justin Hurwitz - La La Land

As someone who has had the La La Land soundtrack on hard rotation for months, I was delighted to see Justin Hurwitz win this award. However, I must also mention Mica Levi's superb score for Jackie.

Nominees:

• ARRIVAL - Sylvain Bellemare, Claude La Haye, Bernard Gariépy Strobl
• DEEPWATER HORIZON - Dror Mohar, Mike Prestwood Smith, Wylie Stateman, Renee Tondelli, David Wyman
• FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM - Niv Adiri, Glenn Freemantle, Simon Hayes, Andy Nelson, Ian Tapp
• HACKSAW RIDGE - Peter Grace, Robert Mackenzie, Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright
• LA LA LAND - Mildred Iatrou Morgan, Ai-Ling Lee, Steve A. Morrow, Andy Nelson

Winner: Arrival

Fantastic to see Arrival (one of my favourite films of 2016) win an award. The sound in Denis Villeneuve's film is superb and brilliantly atmospheric.

Nominees:

• DOCTOR STRANGE - Charles Wood, John Bush
• FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM - Stuart Craig, Anna Pinnock
• HAIL, CAESAR! - Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh
• LA LA LAND - David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds-Wasco 
• NOCTURNAL ANIMALS - Shane Valentino, Meg Everist

Winner: Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them

My vote would have gone to Noctural Animals. However, Fantastic Beasts was also an imaginative, visual delight.

Nominees:

• CONSUMED - Richard John Seymour
• HOME - Shpat Deda, Afolabi Kuti, Daniel Mulloy, Scott O’Donnell
• MOUTH OF HELL - Bart Gavigan, Samir Mehanovic, Ailie Smith, Michael Wilson
• THE PARTY - Farah Abushwesha, Emmet Fleming, Andrea Harkin, Conor MacNeill
• STANDBY - Jack Hannon, Charlotte Regan

Winner: Home

Nominees:

• THE ALAN DIMENSION - Jac Clinch, Jonathan Harbottle, Millie Marsh
• A LOVE STORY - Khaled Gad, Anushka Kishani Naanayakkara, Elena Ruscombe-King 
• TOUGH - Jennifer Zheng

Winner: A Love Story

Nominees:

• DOCTOR STRANGE - Jeremy Woodhead
• FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS - J. Roy Helland, Daniel Phillips
• HACKSAW RIDGE - Shane Thomas
• NOCTURNAL ANIMALS - Donald Mowat, Yolanda Toussieng
• ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY - Amanda Knight, Neal Scanlan, Lisa Tomblin

Winner: Florence Foster Jenkins

Nominees:

• ALLIED - Joanna Johnston
• FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM - Colleen Atwood
• FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS - Consolata Boyle
• JACKIE - Madeline Fontaine
• LA LA LAND - Mary Zophres

Winner: Jackie

Nominees:

• ARRIVAL- Joe Walker
• HACKSAW RIDGE - John Gilbert
• LA LA LAND - Tom Cross
• MANCHESTER BY THE SEA - Jennifer Lame
• NOCTURNAL ANIMALS - Joan Sobel

Winner: Hacksaw Ridge

The evening started with an impressive display from Cirque du Soleil. The look on the celebrity audience's faces? Sheer terror!

It took Stephen Fry only minutes to defend the honour of Meryl Streep following President Trump's post-Golden Globe Twitter diss. 

Wondering how many Hollywood peeps got the Danny Dyer gag...

Pretty awesome collection of perfect nashers in the Royal Albert Hall. The award for best dentist goes to...

Enough with the Ben Affleck digs already...

Lovely to see Hugh Grant being at his most Hugh Grantish...

Ah, Dev Patel is so gorgeous and endearing... and I love Amy Adams...

Did someone censor the politics out of the Baftas? (Apart of course from Ken Loach's speech - they wouldn't dare!) All of the acceptance speeches seemed very much 'on page'. Their messages were good though...

The montage honouring those the film industry has lost in the past year was extremely moving.

Great to see Mel Brooks get his BAFTA Fellowship. 

What did you think about the 2017 BAFTA Awards? Let me know! You can leave me a comment in the section below...