LONDON • Survival drama The Revenant was the top winner at Britain's biggest movie awards on Sunday, taking Best Film as well as the Best Actor and Best Director honours for its star Leonardo DiCaprio and director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.
It earned five British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) awards, including for cinematography and sound, two weeks before it vies for Hollywood's top honours, the Oscars.
It has picked up several trophies this awards season and is leading Oscar nominations, including Best Actor for DiCaprio.
Collecting his first Bafta, DiCaprio paid tribute to his mother, saying: "I grew up in a very rough neighbourhood in East Los Angeles. And this woman drove me three hours a day to a different school to show me a different opportunity.
"All of this was not expected tonight," he told reporters about the wins.
Inarritu said: "I am overwhelmed."
Brie Larson scooped Best Actress for her role in the harrowing kidnapping tale Room.
Kate Winslet won Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the biopic Steve Jobs, while Mark Rylance took the Best Supporting Actor prize for Bridge Of Spies.
Winslet said it has been an "extraordinary year for women". She dedicated her prize "to all those young women who doubt themselves".
"When I was 14, I was told by a drama teacher that I might be okay as long as I was happy to settle for the fat-girl parts. Look at me now," she said after accepting the award.
Mad Max: Fury Road was the second-biggest winner with four technical prizes, including costume design.
Financial misdeeds movie The Big Short won Best Adapted Screenplay and the Catholic sex abuse film Spotlight won Best Original Screenplay.
Irish immigrant love story Brooklyn won Outstanding British Film, while lesbian romance drama Carol left empty-handed after leading Bafta nominations in nine categories, the same number as Bridge Of Spies.
Guests poked fun at the diversity controversy dominating this year's awards season.
"I have never been invited to the Oscars because, as you know, they are racist," Australian comedienne Rebel Wilson said as she introduced a Bafta award.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens won Best Special Visual Effects, while cast member John Boyega was named the EE Rising Star, the only award voted for by the public.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
