LONDON (AP) 鈥� Atom bomb epic won , at the 77th on Sunday, cementing its front-runner status for the Oscars next month.
Gothic fantasia 鈥淧oor Things鈥� took five prizes and Holocaust drama 鈥淭he Zone of Interest鈥� won three.
British-born filmmaker won his first best director BAFTA for 鈥淥ppenheimer,鈥� and Irish performer Cillian Murphy won the best actor prize for playing physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb.
Murphy said he was grateful to play such a 鈥渃olossally knotty, complex character."
Nolan noted that nuclear weapons are 鈥渁 nihilistic subject and the film inevitably reflects that," telling the movie's backers: "Thank you for taking on something dark.鈥�
Emma Stone was named best actress for playing the wild and spirited Bella Baxter in 鈥淧oor Things,鈥� a steampunk-style visual extravaganza that won prizes for visual effects, production design, makeup and hair and costume design.
鈥淥辫辫别苍丑别颈尘别谤鈥� had a field-leading 13 nominations, but missed out on the record of nine trophies, set in 1971 by 鈥淏utch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.鈥�
It won the best film race against 鈥淧oor Things,鈥� 鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon,鈥� 鈥淎natomy of a Fall鈥� and 鈥淭he Holdovers.鈥� 鈥淥辫辫别苍丑别颈尘别谤鈥� also scooped trophies for editing, cinematography and musical score, as well as the best supporting actor prize for Robert Downey Jr., who played Atomic Energy Commission head Lewis Strauss.
Da鈥橵ine Joy Randolph was named best supporting actress for playing a boarding school cook in 鈥淭he Holdovers鈥� and said she felt a 鈥渞esponsibility I don鈥檛 take lightly鈥� to tell the stories of underrepresented people like her character Mary.
鈥淥辫辫别苍丑别颈尘别谤鈥� faced in what's widely considered a vintage year for cinema and an awards season energized by the end of actors鈥� and writers鈥� strikes that shut down Hollywood for months.
鈥� a British-produced film shot in Poland with a largely German cast, was named both best British film and best film not in English 鈥� a first 鈥� and also took the prize for its sound, which has been described as the real star of the film.
Jonathan Glazer's unsettling drama takes place in a family home just outside the walls of the Auschwitz death camp, whose horrors are heard and hinted at, rather than seen.
鈥淲alls aren鈥檛 new from before or since the Holocaust, and it seems stark right now that we should care about innocent people being killed in Gaza or Yemen or Mariupol or Israel,鈥� producer James Wilson said. 鈥淭hank you for recognizing a film that asks us to think in those spaces.鈥�
Ukraine war documentary produced by The Associated Press and PBS 鈥淔rontline,鈥� won the prize for best documentary.
鈥淭his is not about us,鈥� said filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov, who captured the harrowing reality of life in the besieged city with an AP team. 鈥淭his is about Ukraine, about the people of Mariupol.鈥�
Chernov said the story of the city and its fall into Russian occupation 鈥渋s a symbol of struggle and a symbol of faith. Thank you for empowering our voice and let鈥檚 just keep fighting.鈥�
The awards ceremony, hosted by 鈥� who entered wearing a kilt and sequined top while carrying a dog named Bark Ruffalo 鈥� was a glitzy, British-accented appetizer for Hollywood鈥檚 , closely watched for hints about who might win at the Oscars on March 10.
The prize for original screenplay went to French courtroom drama The film about a woman on trial over the death of her husband was written by director Justine Triet and her partner, Arthur Harari.
"It鈥檚 a fiction, and we are reasonably fine," Triet joked.
Cord Jefferson won the adapted screenplay prize for the satirical 鈥淎merican Fiction," about the struggles of an African American novelist
Jefferson said he hoped the success of the movie "maybe changes the minds of the people who are in charge of greenlighting films and TV shows, allows them to be less risk-averse.鈥�
Historical epic Leonard Bernstein biopic grief-flecked love story and class-war dramedy 鈥� all won nothing despite multiple nominations.
鈥� one half of 2023鈥檚 鈥淏arbenheimer鈥� box office juggernaut and the year鈥檚 top-grossing film, also came up empty from five nominations. 鈥淏arbie鈥� director Greta Gerwig failed to get a directing nomination for either the BAFTAs or the Oscars, in what was seen by many as .
Britain鈥檚 film academy introduced changes to increase the awards鈥� diversity in 2020, when no women were nominated as best director for the seventh year running and all 20 nominees in the lead and supporting performer categories were white. However, Triet was the only woman among this year's six best-director nominees.
The Rising Star award, the only category decided by public vote, went to Mia McKenna-Bruce, star of 鈥淗ow to Have Sex.鈥�
Before the ceremony, nominees, including Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Emily Blunt, Rosamund Pike, Ryan Gosling and Ayo Edebiri all walked the red carpet at London鈥檚 Royal Festival Hall, along with presenters Andrew Scott, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba and David Beckham.
Guest of honor was , in his role as president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He arrived without his wife, Kate, who is recovering from last month.
The ceremony included musical performances by 鈥淭ed Lasso鈥� star , singing 鈥淭ime After Time,鈥� and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, singing her 2001 hit 鈥淢urder on the Dancefloor,鈥� which shot back up the charts after featuring in 鈥沦补濒迟产耻谤苍.鈥�
Film curator June Givanni, founder of the June Givanni PanAfrican Cinema Archive, was honored for outstanding British contribution to cinema, while actress Samantha Morton received the academy鈥檚 highest honor, the BAFTA Fellowship.
Morton, who grew up in foster care and children鈥檚 homes, said that 鈥渞epresentation matters.鈥�
鈥淭he stories we tell, they have the power to change people鈥檚 lives,鈥� she said. 鈥淔ilm changed my life, it transformed me, and it led me here today."
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AP journalist Hilary Fox contributed to this story.
Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
