The British Academy Film Awards, or BAFTA Awards for short, were presented at the annual awards ceremony on Sunday evening, February 19, 2023 – and one film emerged as the night’s big winner. Edward Bergers novel adaptation”nothing new in the westfrom streaming giant Netflix won seven BAFTA Awards, namely Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film, as well as Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Score and Best Sound.
With these seven wins, “Nothing New in the West” set a new record: No non-English language film has ever won so many awards at the BAFTA Awards. The previous record holder was the 1988 Italian film “Cinema Paradiso”, which was awarded five BAFTAs.
Before we give you an overview of all the winners of this year’s BAFTAs, let’s first take a look at the upcoming Oscars on March 12, 2023. Because here too, “Nothing New in the West” has been nominated in the Best Picture category – and could be the first German film ever to win this award. But what are the chances for this Oscar sensation?
“Nothing new in the West” versus “Everything everywhere at once”?
First of all, a little downer for all those who are crossing their fingers for “Nothing New in the West” at the Oscars: as much as you might think so, because the Best Picture of the Year is being chosen – the winners in the King’s category at the BAFTAs don’t serve as much as an indication of which film will win Best Picture at the Oscars. In the past ten years, winners in this category have coincided for both awards only three times: Ben Affleck’s “Argo” (2013), Steve McQueen’s “12 Years A Slave” (2014) and Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” (2021).
At the Oscars, the competitive situation in this category is also different: while only five films compete for the title of Best Picture at the BAFTAs, up to ten films have been nominated in this category at the Oscars since 2010. So far, the multiverse comedy “Everything Everywhere All At Once” is considered a particularly promising contender in the Best Picture category for the 2023 Oscars.
“Nothing New in the West” could have actually gotten a boost from the BAFTA wins – because more conservative voters at the Academy, not entirely comfortable with the win of a more unusual fantasy film like Everything Everywhere All At Once, are now allowed to vote for the title, which is already winning big, it turns out and with its theme (in this case: anti-war film) would rather be a “traditional” Oscar winner. In this way, the votes of these groups of voters could not be divided among the most diverse, more classic films, but could unite on a common candidate, who would then be placed first on many ballots cast.
How the whole story ends, we will know in the night of March 12 to 13 at the Oscars – and ‘Nothing New in the West’ can even hope for prizes in nine (!) categories.
BAFTAs 2023: These are the winners
From the Oscars back to the BAFTAs. Here is the overview for you of the honored actors in their category and the winning films in the other categories at the BAFTA Awards 2023:
Best Movie: “Nothing New in the West”
Best Leading Actress: Cate Blanchett in “Tar”
Best Actor: Austin Butler in Elvis
Best Supporting Actor: Barry Keoghan in The Banshees of Inisherin
The Best Supporting Actress: Kerry Condon in The Banshees of Inisherin
Best Young Actor: Emma Mackey
Best Director: “Nothing New in the West”
Best camera: “Nothing New in the West”
Best Original Screenplay: “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Nothing New in the West”
Best British Film: “The Banshees of Inisherin”
Best Foreign Language Film: “Nothing New in the West”
Best Animated Film: “Pinocchio by Guillermo Del Toro”
Best Documentary: “Navalny”
Best Cut: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
Best Makeup and Hair: “Elvis”
Best Production Design: “Babylon”
Best British Animated Short Film: “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”
Best British Short Film: “An Irish Farewell”
Best Costume Design: “Elvis”
Best Sound: “Nothing New in the West”
Best Original Score: “Nothing New in the West”
Best Visual Effects: “Avatar 2: The Way of the Water”
Best Young British Performance (Director, Screenplay or Producer): Charlotte Wells for “After Sun”
Best Casting: “Elvis”