'All We Imagine As Light' loses Best Film Not in English Language BAFTA to 'Emilia Perez'
New Delhi (PTI): Payal Kapadia's critically acclaimed movie "All We Imagine As Light" lost out the BAFTA in the Best Film Not in the English Language category to French title "Emilia Perez".
Despite controversy surrounding its lead star Karla Sofia Gascon's old tweets, which were viewed as Islamophobic and racist, "Emilia Perez" won the award at Sunday's ceremony in London with film's second lead Zoe Saldana taking home the BAFTA in the Supporting Actress segment.
"Emilia Perez", a French film directed by Jacques Audiard, follows four remarkable women in Mexico, each pursuing their own happiness. Cartel leader Emilia (Gascon) enlists Rita (Saldana), an unappreciated lawyer, to help fake her death so that she can fake her death so that she can finally live authentically as her true self.
"All We Imagine..." revolves around two Malayali nurses in Mumbai and their friendships. The Malayalam-Hindi film created history by becoming the first from India to win the Grand Prix at the Cannes in May last year.
Hours after the ceremony, the official Instagram page of Kapadia's film shared a picture of the director mingling with fellow artists.
"Win or lose, good year for Indian films internationally @allweimagineaslightfilm," read the caption of the Instagram Story.
Earlier this year, "Emilia Perez" also won the Golden Globe in the Best Motion Picture Non-English Language category, beating out "All We Imagine...", "The Girl With the Needle", "I'm Still Here", "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" and "Vermiglio".
Other films nominated for the Film Not in the English Language BAFTA were: "I'm Still Here" (Portuguese), "Kneecap" (Irish/English), and "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" (Persian).
"Kneecap" also won its director Rich Peppiatt a BAFTA in the Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer segment.
The movie, also penned by Irish filmmaker Peppiatt, depicts the rise of Kneecap, an Irish hip-hop trio from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Other nominees in the category were: British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri's "Santosh", British-Indian director Karan Kandhari's "Sister Midnight", and "Monkey Man" by Indian-origin British actor Dev Patel in his directorial debut, and "Hoard" by Luna Carmoon.
At the ceremony, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London, papal thriller "Conclave" -- fronted by Ralph Fiennes -- emerged as the Best Film along with earning the award for Best British Film as well.
Brady Corbet won the Director BAFTA for "The Brutalist", which also saw lead star Adrien Brody bag the Best Actor award.
Mikey Madison won Best Actress BAFTA for "Anora", with Kieran Culkin being adjudged Best Supporting Actor for "A Real Pain".
Scottish actor David Tennant, star of "Doctor Who" and "Good Omens", hosted the BAFTAs for the second time.
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Baramati plane crash: Rohit Pawar alleges attempts to shield VSR Ventures
Mumbai (PTI): NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday alleged that someone was trying to save VSR Ventures in connection with the plane crash that killed Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, and claimed that the AAIB preliminary probe vindicated the doubts earlier raised by him.
He also accused VSR company of indulging in several grave lapses in the past.
The Learjet 45 aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures, crashed near the Baramati air strip in Pune district on January 28, killing Pawar and four others.
In its 22-page preliminary report on the VSR Venture's Learjet plane crash, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said the visibility at the time of the crash was below the required level. It also flagged about fading marks on the runway and presence of loose gravels on the runway surface.
Pawar said, "I am not against VSR or the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Ajitdada was travelling in a VSR aircraft. Unless we go into the depth of every aspect, we will not know the truth. But someone is trying to save this company. The doubts we had raised have been proven correct in the inquiry report."
He also claimed that the AAIB report contained discrepancies, including mentioning Baramati as a district, and questioned how seriously the probe had been conducted.
Pawar, who has been regularly holding press conferences to raise issues concerning the Baramati plane crash, also contested the report's conclusion that the aircraft hit trees before crashing.
"The report says the aircraft struck trees and then fell. But there are no trees at that spot. There is only a small bush which the aircraft did not even touch. What is stated in the report about hitting trees is incorrect," he said.
Pawar further alleged that VSR Ventures had displayed irresponsibility on multiple occasions, citing an incident involving the then chief minister Eknath Shinde's Davos visit on January 20, 2023.
He claimed that the aircraft carrying Shinde had entered Iranian and Iraqi airspace without overflight permission, following which fighter jets from the two countries allegedly warned of action, forcing a change in route from Bahrain to Zurich.
"There have been several such grave lapses by VSR," he said.
Pawar demanded to know from where VSR Ventures derived its "audacity", and sought details about its investors and officials, though he added that he was not personally concerned with who they were.
Drawing a comparison, he said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had taken over the probe into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death within two days, whereas a month had passed since the Baramati crash without a similar action.
He claimed that VSR Ventures had two directors and three shareholders, and that there were eight common names across two related companies.
He further alleged that the owner of VSR was related to the Union Civil Aviation Minister and questioned why the company, though registered in Delhi, had made high-value investments in Jubilee Hills (upscale area in Hyderabad) at rates allegedly Rs 17 crore above the market price.
The MLA representing the Karjat-Jamkhed assembly constituency in Ahilyanagar district also raised concerns about the legal and institutional framework of the AAIB under the 2017 rules, claiming it was neither a statutory nor an autonomous body and remained answerable to the secretary and the minister, besides being attached to the DGCA.
"There is no independent investigative agency," he alleged.
