Baftas 2019: Roma takes home Best Film but The Favourite dominates the night

Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively for their work in 'The Favourite'

The 2019 Baftas had dual victors when it came to the ceremony. It was a night that belonged both to Yorgos Lanthimos’s historical drama The Favourite, which won seven awards, and Alfonso Cuarón's Netflix-produced drama Roma, which won four awards but walked away with Best Film.

The Favourite may have a Greek director in Yorgos Lanthimos, but the period piece received significant British funding, alongside being anchored by a British story (a love triangle between Queen Anne and two confidantes) and a largely British cast, including Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz, who won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively.

The film not only won Outstanding British Film, but also won for Original Screenplay, Production Design and Make Up and Hair. Meanwhile, Roma won the ultimate prize of the night, Best Film. Accepting the prize, Cuarón expressed his gratitude for the film winning during a time “when fear and anger would divide us”. He also won for Director, Cinematography and Film Not in the English Language.

:: You can find the full list of winners here

Bohemian Rhapsody, which many had anticipated winning Outstanding British Film, won two awards on the night: Rami Malek won Leading Actor for his performance as Freddie Mercury, while the film also won the award for Sound. Supporting Actor, meanwhile, went to Mahershala Ali for his performance in Green Book.

Joanna Lumley’s opening monologue failed to deliver any topical gags, mostly consisting of complimenting the nominees. The only real jabs were saved for the Oscars host controversy and for A Star is Born director Bradley Cooper. “Thank goodness Bafta has a host, though I suspect that has to do with the fact that I’m not on Twitter,” Lumley joked early on. Oscars organisers have confirmed that this year’s ceremony will have no official host for the first time in 30 years, after Kevin Hart stepped down after a number of old tweets resurfaced in which the comedian expressed homophobic views.

Cooper, who is the star, director, producer, and screenwriter of A Star is Born, was declared by Lumley as a “multi-talented genius” who “needs to learn how to delegate”. While referencing Alfonso Cuarón’s nominations in six different categories, Lumley then turned to Cooper and added: “pull your finger out, sweetheart”.

The speeches, too, were kept short and largely free of political comment. One of the only references to Brexit was actually delivered by presenter Eddie Marsan. While presenting the award for Best Costume Design with Sophie Okonedo, the actor described the difficulty of creating historically accurate costumes for films. He then added that it was particularly difficult to do since Britain had “reinvented its past to justify Brexit”.

Black Panther star Letitia Wright won the publicly voted for Rising Star Award. In her speech, she said: “I identify myself as a child of God and I can’t get up here without thanking God. A few years ago, I saw myself in a deep state of depression and I literally wanted to quit acting.” She then credited God for helping her through this period, alongside an e-mail from Bafta asking her to take part in its Breakthrough Brits programme. “So this wasn’t an overnight thing. This wasn’t a click of the finger success. I’m still a work in progress,” she added. “I want to thank everybody that said yes to me.”