Joker, meanwhile, won three awards including best actor for Joaquin Phoenix, while the Korean offbeat horror movie Parasite picked up two awards.

1917, which has has struck a resounding chord at the box office, taking more than $207m worldwide to date, took the first award, for Outstanding British Film, then went on to scoop two prestigious craft prizes, the Sound and Production Design awards.

As widely expected, 1917 then triumphed in the cinematography category with Roger Deakins,  taking the prize.

Mendes won the prestigious Director Award, the first time he has won the prize. He previously won a BAFTA for best British film in 2013 for Skyfall.

Todd Phillips’ controversial superhero origin story Joker won its first prize of the evening for Original Score, for Hildur Guanadottir. The film then won the inaugural Casting BAFTA award for Shayana Markowitz.

Joaquin Phoenix won the Leading Actor prize, using his time on the podium to deliver a powerful speech calling for the industry to be more inclusive to people of colour.

Parasite, writer-director Bong Joon Ho’s black comedy about a poor family’s attempts to insinuate itself into the lives of its rich employers, won the Original Screenplay Award. The South Korean director expressed his surprise at winning, thanking BAFTA for recognising a script that is written in a foreign language.

Renee Zellweger won the Leading Actress award for Judy Garland biopic Judy. It’s the third time lucky for Zellweger in the best actress category, following nominations for Chicago and Bridget Jones. She has previously won a BAFTA for best supporting actress for Cold Mountain.

In the supporting acting categories, Brad Pitt won the Supporting Actor Award for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Margot Robbie picked up the prize on his behalf.

Laura Dern converted her debut BAFTA nomination into a win, picking up the Best Supporting Actress prize for Marriage Story.

Jojo Rabbit, Taika Waititi’s dark comedy about a young boy growing up in Nazi Germany, picked up the Adapted Screenplay award.

The ceremony at London’s Royal Albert Hall, was hosted for the first time by Graham Norton who joked that 2019 was the year “when white men finally broke through” in cinema.

The best director category was once again female free, featuring Sam Mendes, Martin Scorsese, Todd Phillips, Quentin Tarantino, and Bong Joon Ho.

Australia’s Rebel Wilson brought attention to the fact when presenting the best director category. “I don’t think I could do what they do, honestly. I just don’t have the balls,” Wilson said.

-AAP