London (AFP)

The Bafta ceremony, the British cinema awards, kicked off Sunday evening with a more diverse selection and two big favorites, the multi-awarded "Nomadland" and the outsider "Rocks",

Organized without an audience due to the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus, the ceremony takes place in the midst of national mourning in the United Kingdom after the death of Prince Philip on Friday.

His grandson William canceled his scheduled intervention during the event, broadcast from the prestigious performance hall of the Royal Albert Hall.

The first prizes awarded went to Pixar studio's "Soul" (best animated film) and to "The Father" (best adapted screenplay), the first film by French director Florian Zeller in which Anthony Hopkins plays an elderly Londoner plunging into life. dementia.

Adapted from the play of the same name, it was shot in London.

"It has been a real honor to work in your country which is truly a country of theater", reacted Florian Zeller.

"I am French but in my heart I feel English", he added, speaking in a tuxedo, although in videoconference.

But the two films at the top of the nominations are "Nomadland", by Chloe Zhao, which already accumulates the awards, and the most unexpected "Rocks", by Briton Sarah Gavron ("Brick Lane", "Suffragette"), with seven nominations. each.

"Nomadland", a hymn to the glory of modern hippies traveling the United States in their vans, is notably named in the categories best film, best director, best actress (Frances McDormand).

One of the favorites for the Oscars, he has already won the prestigious award for best feature film on Saturday, awarded by the Association of American Directors (DGA).

"Rocks" could create a sensation: it follows a 15-year-old British-Nigerian teenager abandoned by her mother and who tries to get by with her younger brother, supported by her friends in east London.

The crop of nominations received by this lively film which celebrates a multicultural London with its gang of girls of diverse origins is a strong symbol for the Bafta, whose selection was criticized last year for its lack of diversity.

Last year, the 2020 nominations did not include any non-white actors in the four main categories and no female director was selected.

- Distinguished Ang Lee -

This year, four female directors were named, a first.

In the best actor category are the British of Pakistani origin Riz Ahmed, the French of Algerian origin Tahar Rahim, the Indian actor Adarsh ​​Gourav and the black American actor Chadwick Boseman, who died last year of cancer, in the age of 43.

It's "unbelievable" that the "breakthrough" of non-white artists at the Bafta "took so long," Sarah Gavron, director of "Rocks", a film starring in black, told AFP. .

Bukky Bakray, who plays "Rocks" (the main character's nickname), is selected for the best actress category.

The film has already won the casting award during a first technical Baftas ceremony on Saturday night.

Christopher Nolan's thriller "Tenet" won Best Special Effects and "Sound of Metal", which follows a heavy metal drummer going deaf for best sound.

"Mank", a black and white film about the golden age of Hollywood, "Minari", which tells the story of an American family of South Korean descent in search of a new life in the campaign, "The Father" and "Promising Young Woman" could also leave with full hands.

Director Ang Lee ("Reason and Feelings", "Tiger and Dragon", "The Odyssey of Pi") will receive the Bafta Academy Fellowship, the highest distinction of the Bafta, for his work.

© 2021 AFP