Wicked outfits and awards galore, Bafta draws stars

The men looked dapper and the women chic on the British film industry’s biggest night

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Papal thriller Conclave and immigrant epic The Brutalist on Sunday tied for top honours at British Academy Film Awards (Bafta) function with each film picking up four coveted gongs.

Conclave, directed by German-born Edward Berger, won the Bafta for the best film with its tale of intrigue and horse-trading behind the scenes during the election of a new pope.

Accepting the award, Berger recalled the journey to make the film took seven years, paying tribute to British screenplay writer Peter Straughan's "wonderful script" and lead actor Ralph Fiennes.

US filmmaker Brady Corbet took the Bafta for best director for The Brutalist, while leading man Adrien Brody scooped up the best actor gong for his portrayal of a Hungarian Holocaust survivor and architect who emigrates to the US.

Brody told a winners press conference that the film was "an opportunity for me to honour my own ancestral struggles".

In "a film that speaks to tremendous cruelty and despicable behaviour in our past... we see elements existing today that can guide us and remind us of that," he added.