Black-clad stars in show of force against ‘abuse’ – ‘Time’s Up’ on harassment
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LONDON, Feb 19, (Agencies): Women’s rights activists walked the red carpet with some of British cinema’s biggest female stars at the BAFTA film awards on Sunday, the latest salvo in a campaign against sexual harassment in the entertainment industry.
“The Death of Stalin” star Andrea Riseborough was accompanied by Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, a co-founder of activist group UK Black Pride.
“There are so many people to look up to in the world, and Lady Phyll is one of them,” Riseborough told Reuters of her decision to invite the activist to the event.
“Their Finest” star Gemma Arterton was also among those taking part.
Some female stars dressed in black outfits, echoing a similar protest at last month’s Golden Globes awards ceremony in Los Angeles. Both male and female attendees sported badges name-checking the “Time’s Up” campaign against sexual harassment.
British newspaper The Observer had earlier published an open letter calling for sexual harassment and abuse to be stamped out, signed by 190 actresses including British Oscar winners Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet and Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan.
“This movement is bigger than just a change in our industry alone. This movement is intersectional, with conversations across race, class, community, ability and work environment, to talk about the imbalance of power,” said the letter, whose signatories also included Sophie Okonedo, Olivia Colman, Carey Mulligan and Emma Watson.
The #MeToo and Time’s Up movements have seen victims use social media to share their stories of harassment and abuse as allegations have emerged in recent months of sexual misconduct by many powerful men in business, politics and entertainment.
Britain’s BAFTA film awards got under way Sunday at London’s Royal Albert Hall, with stars dressed mainly in black in a show of support for the fight against sexual harassment, as “The Shape of Water” topped the nominations list.
With Hollywood still reeling from the fallout of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, the all-black dress theme mirrors other recent American red carpets — including last month’s Golden Globes — showing solidarity with the #MeToo and “Time’s Up” anti-sexual harassment campaigns.
“Darkest Hour” star and supporting actress nominee Kristin Scott Thomas was among the first to arrive Sunday evening, while actress Andrea Riseborough was joined on the red carpet by Phyll Opoku-Gyimah of LGBT rights group for ethnic minorities, UK Black Pride.
Equality
The Baftas are being hosted this year by British film and TV star Joanna Lumley, who praised the gender equality movement as a continuation of the work of the Suffragettes a century ago.
She hailed the “determination to eradicate the abuse of women the world over” as she took to the stage.
Jane Lush, chair of BAFTA, opened the evening soberly telling the star-studded audience it was important to acknowledge a “difficult” past year, and noted efforts to tackle gender imbalance issues.
“Brave revelations have followed brave revelations of bullying and sexual harassment, and which to all our shame has been hidden in plain sight for decades,” she said. “This is a moment in history, it should be a watershed, a catalyst for lasting change.”
Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy film “The Shape of Water” leads the nominations with 12 nods.
Crime drama “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “Darkest Hour”, about British wartime leader Winston Churchill, each have nine.
All three are up for the best film award, along with another World War II drama, Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk”, and Luca Guadagnino’s coming-of-age romance “Call Me By Your Name”.
Del Toro, Guadagnino, Nolan and Martin McDonagh (“Three Billboards”) are up for best director alongside Denis Villeneuve for “Blade Runner 2049” — an all-male lineup that has drawn criticism, particularly this year. British royals avoid making overtly political statements or gestures and the Duchess of Cambridge chose to wear dark green as she accompanied husband Prince William, president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, to the ceremony.
In an open letter published Sunday before the awards, almost 200 British and Irish stars backed a new fund to help women facing sexual harassment and abuse at work.
It echoes a similar initiative launched in Hollywood last month, and was kick-started with a £1 million (1.13 million euros, $1.4 million) donation from actress and activist Emma Watson.
Other signatories to the letter included Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley — who donated £10,000 — and Bafta nominees Kristin Scott Thomas and Saoirse Ronan.
“As we approach the Baftas, our industry’s time for celebration and acknowledgement, we hope we can celebrate this tremendous moment of solidarity and unity across borders by coming together and making this movement international,” the letter says.
Timed to fall between the Globes and the Oscars, the Baftas’ choices often mirror those of its American heavyweights.
“The Shape of Water”, a story of love between a mute cleaning woman and a mystery merman-like creature, is leading the pack just as it has been across the Atlantic.
Aside from the best film and best director nods, Del Toro is up for original screenplay, Sally Hawkins is nominated as leading actress and Octavia Spencer for supporting actress.
The British-produced “Three Billboards” has nominations for best film, director and original screenplay for McDonagh, while Frances McDormand is up for leading actress, and Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson for best supporting actors.
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