The Latest: ‘Three Billboards’ wins outstanding British film

FAN Editor

The Latest on the British Academy Film Awards (all times local):

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7:25 p.m.

Revenge comedy “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” has been named outstanding British film at the British Academy Film Awards.

The film — which has a U.S cast, but a British producer and director — took the trophy at a ceremony dominated by the movement against sexual misconduct and inequality in the entertainment industry.

Producer Graham Broadbent said the movie about a bereaved mother seeking justice is “the story of a woman taking on the establishment and status quo. It seems more timely now than we could ever have imagined.”

“Three Billboards” is also nominated in the separate best picture category at Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars.

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6:55 p.m.

The Duchess of Cambridge has joined in with the muted palette on the BAFTA red carpet, wearing a dark green Jenny Packham dress with a black belt.

Kate, who is expecting her third child in April, is attending the British Academy Film Awards with her husband, Prince William, who is president of the U.K. movie academy.

Most female guests are wearing black to the ceremony as a statement of support for the “Time’s Up” movement against sexual harassment and abuse.

Kate’s choice found a middle way between making a political statement — something the royal family scrupulously avoids — and ignoring the gesture by wearing a bright color.

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5:25 p.m.

Stars are starting to arrive for the British Academy Film Awards at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Apart from some brightly clad Cirque du Soleil entertainers, the dress code on the red carpet is black. Many female guests are eschewing color to show support for the “Time’s Up” movement against sexual harassment and bullying.

Kristin Scott Thomas, a supporting actress nominee for “Darkest Hour,” says she is pleased by the conversation the entertainment industry is having about misconduct, but thinks a tougher task will be “moving it from conversation to action.”

Actress Andrea Riseborough, who brought U.K. Black Pride co-founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah as her guest, says the film industry sorely needs greater diversity.

She said: “It’s more likely we’ll see an alien onscreen than we’ll see an Asian woman at the moment, which is disgraceful.”

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7:50 a.m.

Many of Britain’s most prominent female entertainment stars have signed an open letter demanding an end to sexual harassment ahead of Britain’s major film awards.

A letter published Sunday has been signed by Academy Award winner Emma Thompson, Naomie Harris, Emma Watson, Gemma Arterton and many others.

The letter in The Observer calls for an end to impunity and says “this movement is bigger than just a change in our industry alone.”

Backed by more than 190 entertainers, academics and activists, the letter aligns British film stars with the fight against sexual harassment set off by the allegations against U.S. movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

It comes ahead of Sunday night’s British Academy Film Awards, where many women attending plan to wear monochromatic black in solidarity with victims of abuse.

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For full coverage of awards season: https://apnews.com/tag/AwardsSeason

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