“Revenant”, “Mad Max” dominate BAFTA

Alejandro G. Inarritu's “The Revenant” came up trumps at the 69th British Academy Film Awards on Sunday night, nabbing five prizes including best film, director and leading actor. George Miller's “Mad Max: Fury Road” left the field with four BAFTAs – all in the more technical fields – including costume design, production design, makeup and hair and editing.

 “The Martian”, “The Danish Girl”, “Carol” and “Ex-Machina” all left empty-handed this year.

This year's ceremony was a marked change for Inarritu compared to last year's awards: in 2015, his film “Birdman” was up for 10 nominations but only came away with one win for best cinematography.

The glitterati were in full force at London's Royal Opera House on Valentine's Day:  Tom Cruise awarded “The Revenant” with the best film prize while Leonardo DiCaprio's win for best actor in the film was met with a resounding cheer in the audience. It marked the thesp's first BAFTA win after four nominations.

Helmer Inarritu won best director, after being nominated in the category three times.

Brie Larson snatched up best actress for her role in “Room”, although the actress was not there to pick up the award, due to filming commitments in Australia.

Mark Rylance picked up best supporting actor for “Bridge of Spies”, his first win and first BAFTA film nomination. Kate Winslet won her third BAFTA this year for Best Supporting Actress for “Steve Jobs”. Outstanding British Film, the first award of the evening went to “Brooklyn”, directed by John Crowley. The 1950s Irish immigrant tale stars Saorise Ronan. “The Big Short” was awarded best adapted screenplay, while best animation went to Disney/Pixar toon “Inside Out”.

 “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” snapped up best special visual effects while the EE Rising Star BAFTA award, the only award voted for by the public, went to the film's Brit star John Boyega.

Sidney Poitier, the first African-American to receive a best actor Oscar for his role in 1963's “Lilies of the Field”, was honoured with a BAFTA Fellowship, the highest accolade, for his outstanding and exceptional contribution to the business.

Alan Rickman, Omar Sharif, David Bowie, Wes Craven, Sir Christopher Lee and composer James Horner were remembered in a moving in memoriam reel during the ceremony.

And Best short film went to “Operator,” a film funded publicly online by the site Kickstarter and helmed by Caroline Bartleet, while best short animation went to “Edmond”.