Bafta Awards 2024: Oppenheimer wins Best Picture and six other prizes


Soraya Ebrahimi
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Atom bomb epic Oppenheimer won seven awards, including Best Picture, Director and Actor, at the 77th British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, cementing its front-runner status for the Oscars next month.

Gothic fantasy Poor Things took five awards and Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest won three.

Christopher Nolan won his first Best Director Bafta for Oppenheimer and Cillian Murphy won the Best Actor category for playing physicist J Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atom bomb.

Murphy said he was grateful to play such a “colossally knotty, complex character”.

Emma Stone was named Best Actress for her wild and spirited Bella Baxter in Poor Things, a steampunk-style visual extravaganza that won prizes for visual effects, production design, costume design, and make-up and hair.

Oppenheimer had a field-leading 13 nominations but missed out on the record of nine trophies, set in 1971 by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

It won the Best Film race against Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon, Anatomy of a Fall and The Holdovers.

Oppenheimer also won trophies for editing, cinematography and musical score, as well as the Best Supporting Actor prize for Robert Downey Jr.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph was named best supporting actress for playing a boarding school cook in The Holdovers and said she felt a “responsibility I don’t take lightly” to tell the stories of underrepresented people, such as her character Mary.

Oppenheimer faced stiff competition in what was widely considered to be a vintage year for cinema and an awards season energised by the end of actors’ and writers’ strikes that shut down Hollywood for months.

The Zone of Interest – a British-produced film shot in Poland with a largely German cast – was named best British Film and Best Film Not in English.

It also took the award 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, the horrors of which are heard and hinted at, rather than seen.

“Walls aren’t 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,” producer James Wilson said.

“Thank you for recognising a film that asks us to think in those spaces.”

Ukraine war documentary 20 Days in Mariupol won the award for Best Documentary.

“This is not about us,” said filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov, who captured the harrowing reality of life in the besieged city. “This is about Ukraine, about the people of Mariupol.”

Chernov said the story of the city and its fall into Russian occupation “is a symbol of struggle and a symbol of faith. Thank you for empowering our voice and let’s just keep fighting”.

Mohammed Al Turki and Naomi Campbell. Reuters
Mohammed Al Turki and Naomi Campbell. Reuters

The awards ceremony, hosted by Doctor Who star David Tennant – who entered wearing a kilt and sequinned top while carrying a dog named Bark Ruffalo – was a glitzy, British-accented appetiser for Hollywood’s Academy Awards on March 10.

The prize for Best Original Screenplay, went to French courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall.

The film about a woman on trial over the death of her husband was written by director Justine Triet and her partner, Egyptian-French filmmaker Arthur Harari.

“It’s a fiction and we are reasonably fine,” Triet joked.

Cord Jefferson won Best Adapted Screenplay for the satirical American 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 green-lighting films and TV shows, allows them to be less risk-averse”.

Northern Ireland actor James Martin, from the Oscar-winning film An Irish Goodbye, presented the British Short Film Bafta to American-Egyptian director Yasmin Afifi and Elizabeth Rufai for Jellyfish and Lobster, a tale about care home residents.

Accepting the prize, Afifi said the film was about elderly people who find the “magic in their final days”, before wiping tears away from her face.

Egyptian actor Sayed Badreya, who appears in the film, got down on his knees and prayed on stage.

The Prince of Wales meets EE Rising Star Award nominees, actors Phoebe Dynevor, Ayo Edebiri, Sophie Wilde and winner Mia McKenna-Bruce after the awards. Reuters
The Prince of Wales meets EE Rising Star Award nominees, actors Phoebe Dynevor, Ayo Edebiri, Sophie Wilde and winner Mia McKenna-Bruce after the awards. Reuters

Historical epic Killers of the Flower Moon had nine nominations for the awards but did not win in any category.

There also was disappointment for the Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, which had seven nominations but won no awards.

Neither did grief-flecked love story All of Us Strangers with six nominations, and barbed class-war dramedy Saltburn, with five.

Barbie, one half of 2023’s “Barbenheimer” box office juggernaut and the year’s top-grossing film, also missed out on awards from five nominations.

Barbie director Greta Gerwig failed to get a directing nomination for the Baftas or the Oscars, in what was seen by many as a major snub.

Britain’s film academy introduced changes to increase the awards’ 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.

But Triet was the only woman among this year's six best-director nominees.

Before the ceremony, nominees, including Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Rosamund Pike, Ryan Gosling and Ayo Edebiri, walked the red carpet at London’s Royal Festival Hall, along with presenters Andrew Scott, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba and David Beckham.

Michael J Fox and Tracy Pollan. Fox was a surprise appearance as he handed out the Best Film award. EPA
Michael J Fox and Tracy Pollan. Fox was a surprise appearance as he handed out the Best Film award. EPA

Guest of honour was Prince William, in his role as president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

He arrived without his wife, Kate, who is recovering from abdominal surgery last month.

The ceremony included musical performances by Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham, singing Time after Time, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, singing her 2001 hit Murder on the Dancefloor, which shot back up the charts after featuring in Saltburn.

Film curator June Givanni, founder of the June Givanni Pan-African Cinema Archive, was honoured for outstanding British contribution to cinema, while actress Samantha Morton received the academy’s highest honour, the Bafta Fellowship.

Morton, who grew up in foster care and children’s homes, said that “representation matters”.

“The stories we tell, they have the power to change people’s lives,” she said. “Film changed my life, it transformed me, and it led me here today.

“I dedicate this award to every child in care, or who has been in care and who didn’t survive.”

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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Match info

Australia 580
Pakistan 240 and 335

Result: Australia win by an innings and five runs

THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

Results

Catchweight 60kg: Mohammed Al Katheeri (UAE) beat Mostafa El Hamy (EGY) TKO round 3

Light Heavyweight: Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) no contest Kevin Oumar (COM) Unintentional knee by Oumer

Catchweight 73kg:  Yazid Chouchane (ALG) beat Ahmad Al Boussairy (KUW) Unanimous decision

Featherweight: Faris Khaleel Asha (JOR) beat Yousef Al Housani (UAE) TKO in round 2 through foot injury

Welterweight: Omar Hussein (JOR) beat Yassin Najid (MAR); Split decision

Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Sallah Eddine Dekhissi (MAR); Round-1 TKO

Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali Musalim (UAE) beat Medhat Hussein (EGY); Triangle choke submission

Welterweight: Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW) beat Sofiane Oudina (ALG); Triangle choke Round-1

Lightweight: Mohammad Yahya (UAE) beat Saleem Al Bakri (JOR); Unanimous decision

Bantamweight: Ali Taleb (IRQ) beat Nawras Abzakh (JOR); TKO round-2

Catchweight 63kg: Rany Saadeh (PAL) beat Abdel Ali Hariri (MAR); Unanimous decision

LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW

Stoke City v Tottenham

Brentford v Newcastle United

Arsenal v Manchester City

Everton v Manchester United

All ties are to be played the week commencing December 21.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
While you're here
MOTHER%20OF%20STRANGERS
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Sui Dhaaga: Made in India

Director: Sharat Katariya

Starring: Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav

3.5/5

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ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

The Settlers

Director: Louis Theroux

Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz

Rating: 5/5

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Profile of Tamatem

Date started: March 2013

Founder: Hussam Hammo

Based: Amman, Jordan

Employees: 55

Funding: $6m

Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media

Torbal Rayeh Wa Jayeh
Starring: Ali El Ghoureir, Khalil El Roumeithy, Mostafa Abo Seria
Stars: 3

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid

When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid

Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha

Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar

Director: Neeraj Pandey

Rating: 2.5/5

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

Washmen Profile

Date Started: May 2015

Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Laundry

Employees: 170

Funding: about $8m

Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures

McLaren GT specs

Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8

Transmission: seven-speed

Power: 620bhp

Torque: 630Nm

Price: Dh875,000

On sale: now

Empty Words

By Mario Levrero  

(Coffee House Press)
 

UAE SQUAD

 Khalid Essa (Al Ain), Ali Khaseif (Al Jazira), Adel Al Hosani (Sharjah), Mahmoud Khamis (Al Nasr), Yousef Jaber (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai), Khalifa Al Hammadi (Jazira), Salem Rashid (Jazira), Shaheen Abdelrahman (Sharjah), Faris Juma (Al Wahda), Mohammed Shaker (Al Ain), Mohammed Barghash (Wahda), Abdulaziz Haikal (Shabab Al Ahli), Ahmed Barman (Al Ain), Khamis Esmail (Wahda), Khaled Bawazir (Sharjah), Majed Surour (Sharjah), Abdullah Ramadan (Jazira), Mohammed Al Attas (Jazira), Fabio De Lima (Al Wasl), Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Khalfan Mubarak (Jazira), Habib Fardan (Nasr), Khalil Ibrahim (Wahda), Ali Mabkhout (Jazira), Ali Saleh (Wasl), Caio (Al Ain), Sebastian Tagliabue (Nasr).

Updated: February 19, 2024, 5:58 AM`