Nomadland won big at the BAFTA Awards 2021 on Sunday. The gig-economy movie won four BAFTAs this year including Best Picture. Actress Frances McDormand won the Leading Actress BAFTA, Joshua James Richards won Best Cinematography and Chloé Zhao won the Director BAFTA.
Nomadland brilliantly portrays the life and struggles of the itinerant worker community in the USA. Chloé Zhao became only the second woman, and the first woman of color, to win the BAFTA for best director. She dedicated her award to the nomadic community, saying, "See you down the road."
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The list of winners this year inclined towards inclusivity considering the BAFTAs were awarded to a diverse group of talents. It was last year that the awards were marred by the #BAFTAsSoWhite controversy. With winners such as the Black British star Daniel Kaluuya (Best Supporting Actor for Judas and the Black Messiah), newcomer Bukky Bakray — who shone as a London teenager in Rocks (EE Rising Star Award), and veteran Korean actress Yuh-Jung Youn (Best Supporting Actress for Minari), the awards seemed fair to everyone globally.
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Actress Yuh-Jung Youn expressed her happiness on how the BAFTA had extra meaning for her, on being recognised by the British. "(The British are) known as very snobbish people, they approve me as a good actor, so I’m very privileged and happy," she said, adding further, "Yes it comes from personal experience. I've visited Britain a lot of times and I had a fellowship in a Cambridge college 10 years ago as an actor. Somehow it felt every snobbish, but not in a bad way. You have a long history and then you have your pride. As an Asian woman, I felt these people are very snobbish, that’s my honest feeling."
With the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, the BAFTA ceremony was a compartively restrained celebration with the BAFTA President Prince William not attending it. Also, considering that Britain remains under coronavirus lockdown measures, the evening was a quiet affair.