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Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has won big at the British film awards in London, on a night when the focus on attention was the campaign against sexual harassment.
Writer-director Martin McDonagh called his movie "a film about a woman who refuses to take any s*** anymore", while producer Graham Broadbent called it "the story of a woman taking on the establishment and status quo".
The red carpet set the theme for the night, with many stars and guests wearing black or dark colours on the red carpet in solidarity with the Time's Up movement.
Three Billboards made a statement of intent ahead of the Oscars
The British-directed film Three Billboards, which was shot in America, picked up the big ones: Best Film and Best British Film.
It also picked up Best Actress for Frances McDormand, Best Supporting Actor for Sam Rockwell, and Best Original Screenplay for McDonagh.
Guillermo del Toro won Best Director for monster fantasy The Shape of Water, which also took trophies for music and production design.
Gary Oldman, the favourite among bookies, won the Best Actor prize for playing British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour.
Australian actress Margot Robbie missed out on an award for her critically acclaimed role in I, Tonya, but her co-star Allison Janney won Best Supporting Actress.
Many stars spoke out against sexual harassment
The red carpet and the auditorium at London's Royal Albert Hall were a sea of black, with actresses including Robbie, Lupita Nyong'o, Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lawrence opting not to wear colour as a statement against sexual misconduct and gender inequality.
"I think we have a responsibility to speak up and talk about social injustice and change," Janney said.
"It's an important time, one I never thought I'd see in my lifetime certainly, but it's such an important change that needs to happen."
McDormand opted to wear red along with black, saying she had "a little trouble with compliance".
"But I want you to know that I stand in full solidarity with my sisters tonight in black," she said.
On the red carpet, actress Andrea Riseborough, who brought UK Black Pride founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah as her guest, said she also hoped the film industry was on the road to greater equality and diversity.
"It's more likely we'll see an alien onscreen than we'll see an Asian woman at the moment, which is disgraceful," she said.
Protesters also showed up on the red carpet wearing "Time's Up Theresa" shirts, in a reference to British Prime Minister Theresa May.
The royal family is careful to avoid political statements, but the Duchess of Cambridge acknowledged the tone of night by wearing a dark green Jenny Packham dress with black belt.
Almost 200 British women in entertainment signed an open letter against abuse
Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson, Naomie Harris, Emma Watson and Gemma Arterton were among signatories who said 2018 should be "the year that time was up on sexual harassment and abuse".
They called for an end to impunity for abusers and announced a fund to support women and men battling workplace abuse, modelled on the Time's Up movement in the US.
Watson has given the fund 1 million pounds ($1.8 million), according to its page on the Go Fund Me website.
Allegations of sexual harassment and abuse against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein last year set off a wave of accusations, with Kevin Spacey among those named.
The BAFTAs are seen as giving an insight into what to expect at the Oscars
Three Billboards will be hoping to win best picture there, having also won best film (drama) at the Golden Globes and outstanding performance by a cast at the Screen Actors Guild Awards (the SAGs).
But winning best film at the BAFTAs doesn't assure success at the Oscars. Just ask La La Land, The Revenant and Boyhood, the BAFTA winners from the previous three years.
The other favourite for best picture going into the Oscars is The Shape of Water, which leads the field with 13 nominations.
Its chances weren't done any harm by picking up the BAFTA for Best Director. Lady Bird and Dunkirk are also considered chances for the best picture Oscar.
ABC/wires
Topics: film-movies, academy-awards-oscars, england
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