The Revenant continues sweep with five Baftas

Leonardo DiCaprio with the award for best actor and director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu with his award for best director, both for The Revenant, at the Bafta ceremony. (Photo: AFP)

Epic survival tale The Revenant took top honours, including best film on Sunday at Britain’s Bafta film awards, boosting its status as a favourite for Oscar success later in February.

Mexico’s Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu scooped best director for the picture, and Leonardo DiCaprio won best actor for his leading role as grizzled trapper Hugh Glass. “I am overwhelmed,” said Inarritu as he accepted the award at a star-studded ceremony in London. DiCaprio used his speech to wish his mother a happy birthday and thank her for supporting him as a child. “I’m shocked and amazed, honoured,” he said of the award. “To tell you the truth none of this was expected.” At the Baftas on Sunday, The Revenant won out for best film over Todd Haynes’ 1950s all-female romance Carol, Steven Spielberg’s Cold War thriller Bridge of Spies, Tom McCarthy’s newsroom drama Spotlight and Adam McKay’s financial caper The Big Short. The film also took the awards for cinematography and for sound, giving it a total of five British Academy of Film and Television Arts gongs. It was closely followed by Mad Max: Fury Road, George Miller’s visually stunning post-apocalyptic action film which picked up four technical wins. The ni ght’s other big winners included Brie Larson, who scooped best actress for her role in the harrowing kidnapping tale Room. Kate Winslet won best supporting actress for her turn as a loyal assistant in the biopic Steve Jobs.

The theme of diversity, or lack of it, hung over the ceremony following a controversy over the lack of people of non-white ethnicities among the Oscar nominations. A small group calling for a quota system in nominations protested the event, handing out leaflets on the red carpet that called the television industry “male, pale and stale”. British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen made a reference to the debate as he stood on stage introducing the best actr-ess prize. “The nominations for best... WHITE actress are,” Baron Cohen said, before host Stephen Fry interrupted him.

Brooklyn, a love story about a young Irish woman who emigrates to New York, won outstanding British film. Mark Rylance won the supporting actor award for Bridge of Spies, beating Idris Elba who had been nominated for Netflix civil war story Beasts of No Nation. Italy’s composing legend Ennio Morric-one picked up an award for original music for his work on Quentin Tarantino’s bloody mystery tale The Hateful Eight, making it Morricone’s sixth Bafta in the category.

In the documentary category, Amy won out over international competition for its in-depth portrayal of singer Amy Winehouse.

Here are the winners in the main categories: Best film: “The Revenant” Outstanding British film: “Brooklyn” Best director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu Leading actor: Leonardo DiCaprio for “The Revenant” Leading actress: Brie Larson for “Room” Supporting actor: Mark Rylance for “Bridge of Spies” Supporting actress: Kate Winslet for “Steve Jobs” Rising Star: John Boyega Original screenplay: “Spotlight” Adapted screenplay: “The Big Short” Documentary: “Amy” Animated Film: “Inside Out” Film Not in the English Language: “Wild Tales”