'Anora', emerging as awards season favourite, could steal show

17/2/2025 6:17

Hollywood stars descended on

London on Sunday for the BAFTA Film Awards, Britain's top movie

honours, where the papal thriller "Conclave" and period drama

"The Brutalist" face competition from new awards season

favourite "Anora".



Pamela Anderson, Jeff Goldblum and Ariana Grande were among

the famous faces arriving at the Royal Festival Hall overlooking

the River Thames for the British Academy of Film and Television

Arts (BAFTA) awards.



"Conclave" leads nominations with 12 nods and "The

Brutalist", a three-and-a-half hour tale about a Hungarian

immigrant architect trying to rebuild his life in the United

States post-World War Two, leads the betting to win best film.



But many now consider "Anora", about an exotic dancer who

gets involved with a Russian oligarch's son, a strong contender

after it and director Sean Baker triumphed at the Critics Choice

Awards, as well as the Producers and Directors Guild of America

Awards ahead of next month's Academy Awards.



"Everyone just assumed 'The Brutalist' ... was going to win

everywhere but ... (now) it feels like the momentum is behind

'Anora' and in awards season, it's all about momentum," Digital

Spy movies editor Ian Sandwell told Reuters.



Completing the lineup of best film contenders are Bob Dylan

biopic "A Complete Unknown", starring Timothee Chalamet as the

singer, and Spanish-language musical crime movie "Emilia Perez".



"There's certainly no frontrunner this year like there has

been (before) and it's also been moving around a lot," Tim

Richards, founder and CEO of cinema operator Vue, said.



"I actually think that ‘The Brutalist’ will most likely win

best film but it's a hard call between ...‘The Brutalist’ and

‘Conclave’."



Many pundits consider the best director race to be between

Baker for "Anora"; Edward Berger, for "Conclave", who made

history at the 2023 awards when his German remake of "All Quiet

on the Western Front" won seven prizes; and Brady Corbet for

"The Brutalist", which took seven years to make.



Its star Adrien Brody is favourite to win leading actor

after picking awards elsewhere.



"It was miserable trying to make a film for many years,

having it fall apart over and over again was devastating,"

Corbet told Reuters. "I'm really thrilled that (the film)

exists... all this other stuff is icing on the cake."



For leading actress, the frontrunners are Demi Moore, who

has received multiple honours for her performance in body horror

"The Substance", and Briton Marianne Jean-Baptiste for her

critically acclaimed portrayal of a woman struggling with

depression in "Hard Truths".



"It was a huge challenge for (Moore)... to make this film,

it was a risky project, long shoot and to see her performance

rewarded today I couldn't be happier," said "The Substance"

director Coralie Fargeat.



"Emilia Perez", which stars Zoe Saldana as a lawyer who

helps a Mexican cartel leader, played by Karla Sofia Gascon,

fake his death and transition from a man to a woman, follows

"Conclave" with 11 nominations.



It had been an early awards frontrunner but its campaign

lost steam following controversy surrounding Gascon, who has

apologised for past social media posts denigrating Muslims and

other groups and said she would go silent to help the movie

ahead of the Oscars.



Both Gascon and Saldana are nominated in the leading and

supporting actress categories respectively, and the latter is

widely expected to win after her triumphs at other awards

ceremonies. Gascon was not expected at the BAFTAs.