Buckley wins another gong, but Anderson leads pack

ONE Battle After Another was the big winner at the 2026 Bafta Film Awards, where British films Hamnet and I Swear also received plaudits.

- LAURA HARDING

Jessie Buckley, Leading Actress, and, inset, Robert Aramayo, winner of the Leading Actor and Rising Star awards

Paul Thomas Anderson's film about a washed-up revolutionary searching for his missing teenage daughter won six categories from 14 nominations, including best film, best director, best adapted screenplay and best supporting actor for Sean Penn.

Collecting the biggest award of the night, Anderson said it was a “tremendous honour’, adding: “We have a line from Nina Simone that we used in our film, ‘I know what freedom is, it's no fear! Let’s keep making things without fear, it's a good idea.”

I Swear, the real story of a man with Tourette syndrome growing up in 1980s Scotland, won two awards including a surprise victory for British star Robert Aramayo, who was named best actor and the EE Rising Star at the ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall in London.

He defeated Hollywood heavyweights including Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothee Chalamet and Ethan Hawke for the best actor prize and gave Hawke a special mention as he accepted his trophy.