Joanna Lumley 's opening monologue at the 2019 Baftas has been criticised online, with many viewers taking issue with the Absolutely Fabulous actor’s joke about the Ku Klux Klan.
Welcoming the team behind BlacKkKlansman
“I’m surprised it did so well at the Klan Film Festival.”
She also joked about the current state of the Oscars – the American awards ceremony will have no official host for the first time in 30 years, after Kevin Hart stepped down after a number of old tweets resurfaced in which the comedian expressed homophobic views.
“Thank goodness Bafta has a host,” she said, “though I suspect that has to do with the fact that I’m not on Twitter.”
This 1946 directed by William Wyler follows three United States servicemen who readjust to civilian life after coming home from the Second World War.
Rex Features
Hamlet was Laurence Olivier's second film as director and is the Shakespeare adaptation to have earned the most accolades in awards history.
Getty Images
Italian filmmaker Vittorio De Sica's drama follows a poor father searching post-World War II Rome for his stolen bicycle, without which he will lose the job which was to be the salvation of his young family.
The film stars Bette Davis as Margo Channing, a highly regarded but ageing Broadway star, whose world collides with Eve Harrington, an ambitious young fan who insinuates herself into Channing's life, ultimately threatening her career and personal relationships.
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Max Ophüls's French film La Ronde shows ten amorous encounters across the social spectrum, from a street prostitute to a nobleman, with each scene involving one character from the previous episode.
Before his epics, David Lean directed this drama – following test pilots's attempts to break the sound barrier – to Bafta success
Getty
René Clément's adaptation of François Boyer's war novel Jeux Interdits wasn't a hit in France, but achieved acclaim overseas.
AFP/Getty
Henri-Georges Clouzot's thriller brought him such attention that he was permitted to direct Les Diaboliques .
The only one of Laurence Olivier's three Shakespearean plays to not be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. Not that he minded – he won the main prize at the Baftas.
London Films
Three years after winning his first Bafta, French director René Clément took home another for this drama.
Les Films Corona
David Lean's epic swept the board at both the Oscars and the Baftas.
Columbia Pictures/AP
Jack Clayton's film charts the rise of an ambitious young man (played by Laurence Harvey) in post-war Britain
British Lion Films
William Wyler's biblical epic Ben-Hur had the largest budget of any film produced at the time, and was rewarded with award wins aplenty.
TCM
This charming Billy Wilder comedy, starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine, was an awards favourite.
There has only ever been one tie for the Best Film award when, in 1962, Ballad of a Soldier tied with The Hustler .
Yet another David Lean epic to win the main prize.
Getty
Tom Jones – the film, not the singer – won three Bafta awards in all.
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A film directed by Stanley Kubrick never won a single Oscar, but Dr Strangelove received the main prize at the Baftas.
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The first musical to win the main prize at the Baftas.
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It may have not won Best Picture at the Oscars, but the Bafta voting body gave Mike Nichols's superior black comedy its biggest accolade.
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This historical film depicts the final years of Sir Thomas More, the 16th-century Lord Chancellor of England who refused to sign a letter asking Pope Clement VII to annul King Henry VIII of England's marriage to Catherine of Aragon.
Getty Images
Mike Nichols's next Bafta success arrived with The Graduate , another film that failed to win Best Picture at the Oscars.
The next year saw yet another Dustin Hoffman film score big success.
Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch Cassidy (Paul Newman), and his partner Harry Longabaugh, the "Sundance Kid" (Robert Redford), who are on the run from a crack US posse following a string of train robberies.
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Midnight Cowboy director John Schlesinger won another Bafta for this drama film starring Murray Head, Glenda Jackson and Peter Finch.
Bob Fosse's musical Cabaret proved a Bafta favourite.
Getty Images
François Truffaut's comedy rightly won the main prize at the Baftas. It didn't even receive a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars.
Warner Bros
Louis Malle's drama follows a French teenage boy during the German occupation of France in the Second World War.
Martin Scorsese had to wait until 2006 to win an Oscar, but Bafta were ahead of the curve, awarding him Best Film for this Ellen Burstyn film.
Warner Bros
Miloš Forman's acclaimed drama – starring Jack Nicholson – swept the board at the Oscars and did the same at the Baftas.
Getty
The first of Woody Allen's three Bafta wins arrived with Annie Hall .
United Artists
Fred Zinneman's holocaust drama was the next in a long line of war films to reign supreme at the Baftas.
Woody Allen won his second Bafta for the black-and-white romantic comedy Manhattan .
United Artists
David Lynch's historical film following John Merrick (John Hurt), won three Baftas in total.
EMI Films
As a British film, it was no surprise that Chariots of Fire beat out films including Raiders of the Lost Ark to win Best Film.
20th Century Fox
In a year where there was just four nominations, Gandhi emerged the big winner.
Columbia Pictures
Michael Caine and Julie Walters head up this Willy Russell adaptation from director Lewis Gilbert.
Columbia Pictures
The Killing Fields explores the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia and is based on the experiences of two journalists: Cambodian Dith Pran and American Sydney Schanberg.
Columbia-EMI-Warner
Over five years since winning his last Bafta, Woody Allen received another trophy – this time for The Purple Rose of Cairo .
James Ivory's romantic drama – starring Helena Bonham Carter – was a Bafta success story.
Curzon Film Distributors
Jean de Florette – one of Yves Montand's final films – was a surprise winner at the Baftas.
This lengthy epic was the big winner at both the Baftas and the Oscars.
Columbia Pictures
Dead Poets Society may have missed out on the big prize at the Oscars, but Bafta awarded its biggest accolade to the Robin Williams drama.
Allstar/Touchstone
Criminally overlooked at the Oscars, Martin Scorsese's crime drama Goodfellas fared better at the Baftas.
Warner Bros
The Baftas remained, er, committed to Alan Parker, awarding his film the mainp rize over serious contenders The Silence of the Lambs , Dances With Wolves and Thelma & Louise .
20th Century Fox
Clearly a sucker for a James Ivory romantic drama, the Baftas awarded Howards End with Best Film over the likes of Unforgiven and The Player .
Sony Pictures Classics
There was no denying Schindler's List of any awards at both the Baftas and the Oscars.
Universal Pictures
Bafta kept it close to home when awarding Mike Newell's Four Weddings and a Funeral – just Richard Curtis's second screenplay.
Another romantic drama won a Bafta a few years after Howards End , only this one was a Jane Austen adaptation from Ang Lee.
Columbia Pictures
The English Patient beat out the likes of Fargo and Mike Leigh's Secrets & Lies to win the main Bafta trophy.
Titanic may be one of the biggest winners in Oscar history, but it didn't even get the main prize at the Baftas. It went to The Full Monty instead.
AFP/ Getty
John Madden's Shakespeare in Love – perhaps unsurprisingly – proved catnip for Baftas voters.
Miramax
DreamWorks's impressive campaign turned this film from rank outside to Bafta and Oscar winner in a matter of weeks.
DreamWorks Pictures
Not even British drama Billy Elliot could see of Gladiator in the Bafta Best Film stakes.
Universal Pictures
The fantasy franchise may have had to wait until its final instalment for the Oscar win, but Baftas immediately rewarded Peter Jackson's efforts with a trophy for its opener.
New Line Cinema/AP
Roman Polanksi's drama controversially beat out award favourites Chicago and The Hours to win the top prize.
There was only one winner at this particular year's Baftas ceremony, and that was the third and final Lord of the Rings film.
Yet another win for a Martin Scorsese film. His Oscar count at this current time sat at zero, although the film they finally awarded him for – The Departed – didn't win the Bafta.
Miramax
Crash may have been the surprise Oscar winner, however, Bafta awarded this drama from Ang Lee, starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Focus Features/AP
A film about the royal family starring Helen Mirren? The Queen was always going to win.
Pathé Distribution
Joe Wright won big at the Baftas with Atonement , an adaptation of the acclaimed Ian McEwan novel.
Relativity Media/AP
Danny Boyle won his first Bafta with Slumdog Millionaire .
Warner Bros
Many may have expected Avatar to scoop the top away, but it was Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker that reigned supreme.
Summit Entertainment/AP
The King's Speech took home the Best Film prize in what was perhaps the least surprising win in Baftas history
Momentum Pictures/AP
This was the first black-and-white film to win since Schindler's List .
Weinstein Company
With Argo , Ben Affleck won both the main prize at the Oscars and Baftas.
Warner Bros
Despite close competition from Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity , it was Steve McQueen's drama that took home the Bafta.
Lionsgate
In the first of four big strays from Oscar voters, Boyhood beat Birdman to Best Film at the Baftas.
Spotlight may have won the Oscar, but it was this drama that tickled Bafta voters's fancy.
20th Century Fox
Damien Chazelle's La La Land very nearly won Best Picture – cast and crew made it to the stage before realising Moonlight had actually won - but it most certainly won the Bafta. We think.
Lionsgate/AP
Three Billboards won both the Golden Globe and Bafta, but was beaten at the Oscars by Guillermo del Toro's fantasy The Shape of Water .
20th Century Fox
She also lightly mocked A Star is Born director Bradley Cooper who – as director, star, producer, and screenwriter – Lumley declared was a “multitalented genius” who “needs to learn how to delegate”.
While referencing Alfonso Cuarón’s nominations in six different categories, Lumley then turned to Cooper and added: “Pull your finger out, sweetheart.”
Lumley also noted the irony that this year’s Bafta favourite is named The Favourite , adding: “Next year there’ll be a film called ‘And the Baftas Go To’.”
This year’s Baftas opened with a now-traditional performance from Cirque du Soleil, who this year’s paid tribute to First Man and the 50th anniversary of the moon landings with their own imaginative interpretation of the historic event.
The night’s biggest winner was The Favourite , with the film taking home seven awards in total. However, the period drama did not achieve a sweep, as Roma managed to win Best Film. See the full list of winners here.
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