LONDON (AP) - The Latest on the British Academy Film Awards (all times local):
9:25 p.m.
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” has capped a winning evening at the British Academy Film Awards by taking the trophy for best picture.
The tragicomic tale of a bereaved mother in search of justice beat rivals including “The Shape of Water” and “Darkest Hour.”
Writer-director Martin McDonagh said a film about an angry woman who decides to act is appropriate in an awards season dominated by the campaign against sexual misconduct and bullying.
He said at Sunday’s awards ceremony in London that “our film is a hopeful one in lots of ways, but it’s also an angry one. As we’ve seen this year, sometimes anger is the only way to get people to listen and to change.”
The British Academy Film Awards are Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars.
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9:15 p.m.
Frances McDormand has won the best actress prize at the British Academy Film Awards for her performance as a bereaved mother in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”
Critics and viewers have called McDormand riveting as a mother seeking justice for her murdered daughter in Martin McDonagh’s tragicomic film.
Unlike most women in attendance, McDormand did not dress all in black in a gesture against sexual harassment. She opted for a red and black dress.
McDormand acknowledged her attire, noting “I have a little problem with compliance. But I want you to know that I stand in full solidarity with my sisters tonight in black.”
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9:10 p.m.
Gary Oldman has won the best actor prize at the British Academy Film Awards for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour.”
Oldman said the prize is “all the more special because I can share it with my family,” including his three sons in the London audience.
He also thanked the makeup team that rendered him unrecognizable in the biopic.
And he hailed the late prime minister himself, saying Churchill helped maintain Britain’s honor and freedom “in those dark uncertain days” at the start of World War II.
The win cements Oldman’s place as the favorite to win the best-actor Academy Award at the Hollywood ceremony on March 4.
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8:45 p.m.
Allison Janney has won the best supporting actress prize at the British Academy Film Awards for playing ice skater Tonya Harding’s ferocious mother in “I, Tonya.”
Janney praised her co-stars and the team behind the “beautiful movie,” which stars Margot Robbie as the champion skater from the 1990s caught up in a tragicomic rivalry with competitor Nancy Kerrigan.
Janney is also up for an Academy Award at the Oscars on March 4.
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8:25 p.m.
Sam Rockwell has won the best supporting actor prize at the British Academy Film Awards for his performance as a brutal, racist police officer in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”
At a ceremony dominated by the movement against sexual misconduct, Rockwell said he stood on the shoulders of “strong, intelligent, righteous women.” He praised the film’s star, actress Frances McDormand.
Rockwell also praised the film’s writer- director, Martin McDonagh, saying “there are no great actors, only great roles.”
The awards are Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars.
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7:25 p.m.
Revenge comedy “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” has been named outstanding British film at the British Academy Film Awards.
The film - which has a U.S cast, but a British producer and director - took the trophy at a ceremony dominated by the movement against sexual misconduct and inequality in the entertainment industry.
Producer Graham Broadbent said the movie about a bereaved mother seeking justice is “the story of a woman taking on the establishment and status quo. It seems more timely now than we could ever have imagined.”
“Three Billboards” is also nominated in the separate best picture category at Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars.
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6:55 p.m.
The Duchess of Cambridge has joined in with the muted palette on the BAFTA red carpet, wearing a dark green Jenny Packham dress with a black belt.
Kate, who is expecting her third child in April, is attending the British Academy Film Awards with her husband, Prince William, who is president of the U.K. movie academy.
Most female guests are wearing black to the ceremony as a statement of support for the “Time’s Up” movement against sexual harassment and abuse.
Kate’s choice found a middle way between making a political statement - something the royal family scrupulously avoids - and ignoring the gesture by wearing a bright color.
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5:25 p.m.
Stars are starting to arrive for the British Academy Film Awards at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Apart from some brightly clad Cirque du Soleil entertainers, the dress code on the red carpet is black. Many female guests are eschewing color to show support for the “Time’s Up” movement against sexual harassment and bullying.
Kristin Scott Thomas, a supporting actress nominee for “Darkest Hour,” says she is pleased by the conversation the entertainment industry is having about misconduct, but thinks a tougher task will be “moving it from conversation to action.”
Actress Andrea Riseborough, who brought U.K. Black Pride co-founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah as her guest, says the film industry sorely needs greater diversity.
She said: “It’s more likely we’ll see an alien onscreen than we’ll see an Asian woman at the moment, which is disgraceful.”
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7:50 a.m.
Many of Britain’s most prominent female entertainment stars have signed an open letter demanding an end to sexual harassment ahead of Britain’s major film awards.
A letter published Sunday has been signed by Academy Award winner Emma Thompson, Naomie Harris, Emma Watson, Gemma Arterton and many others.
The letter in The Observer calls for an end to impunity and says “this movement is bigger than just a change in our industry alone.”
Backed by more than 190 entertainers, academics and activists, the letter aligns British film stars with the fight against sexual harassment set off by the allegations against U.S. movie producer Harvey Weinstein.
It comes ahead of Sunday night’s British Academy Film Awards, where many women attending plan to wear monochromatic black in solidarity with victims of abuse.
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