LONDON – Oppenheimer, a three-hour epic about the making of the atomic bomb in World War II, was the big winner at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) film awards on Feb 18, bagging the top honours for best film and best director, as well as five other awards.

One of the highest-grossing movies of 2023, it also won awards for leading actor Cillian Murphy, who portrays American theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer; supporting actor Robert Downey Jr; editing; cinematography; and original score.

Christopher Nolan, who won his first Bafta for directing Oppenheimer, thanked his cast and crew in his acceptance speech.

“In the real world, there are all kinds of individuals and organisations who have fought long and hard to reduce the number of nuclear weapons in the world... In accepting this, I do want to acknowledge their efforts,” he said.

Like Nolan, Murphy had been the favourite to win in his category and, in his acceptance speech, he referred to the man known as “the father of the atomic bomb”.

“Oppenheimer was this colossally naughty, complex character and he meant different things to different people,” Murphy said.

“One man’s monster is another’s man hero. That’s why I love movies, because we have a space to celebrate and interrogate and investigate that complexity.”

Emma Stone picked up the leading actress award for sex-charged Gothic comedy Poor Things, which won five prizes overall.

Da’Vine Joy Randolph won the supporting actress prize for her role in The Holdovers, a comedy set in a boys’ boarding school.

The Zone Of Interest, about the commandant of Auschwitz and his family living next to the Nazi death camp, won three prizes – for outstanding British film, film not in the English language and sound.

Courtroom drama Anatomy Of A Fall won the first prize of the night, for original screenplay.

The award for adapted screenplay went to comedy-drama American Fiction, which is based on the 2001 novel Erasure by Percival Everett.

The best documentary prize went to 20 Days In Mariupol, journalist Mstyslav Chernov’s personal account of the siege of the Ukrainian city in 2022.

“This is not about us, this is about Ukraine, about people of Mariupol... The day before yesterday, another Ukrainian city has fallen,” Chernov said in his acceptance speech. “So, the story of Mariupol is a symbol of everything that happened, a symbol of struggle.”

Besides the celebrities attending the ceremony – hosted by actor David Tennant – at the Royal Festival Hall by the River Thames in central London, the guest list also included Bafta president Prince William.

Here is a list of the winners in the main categories.

Best film: Oppenheimer

Outstanding British film: The Zone Of Interest

Director: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Leading actress: Emma Stone, Poor Things

Leading actor: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

Supporting actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

Supporting actor: Robert Downey Jr, Oppenheimer

Original screenplay: Anatomy Of A Fall

Adapted screenplay: American Fiction

Film not in the English language: The Zone Of Interest

Documentary: 20 Days In Mariupol

Animated film: The Boy And The Heron

Original score: Oppenheimer

EE rising star: Mia McKenna-Bruce

REUTERS