The Jacques Audiard directorial Emilia Perez took home the prize for best film not in the English language at the BAFTA Awards.

The film bagged the honour on Sunday despite controversy over star Karla Sofia Gascon’s offensive tweets, reports ‘Variety’.

In his acceptance speech, Audiard still thanked Gascon, who was absent at the ceremony and has effectively been removed from the awards campaign.

“Above all, I would like to thank all the wonderful artists who brought this film to life and who are here with us tonight”, he said. “My dear Zoe, my dear Selena, Giorgini, Paul, Juliet, Camille, Clement, Julia and your team, but also you, my dear Karla Sofia, that I kiss. I’m deeply proud of what we achieved together. Long live Emilia Perez.

As per ‘Variety’, voting for the BAFTAs closed last week but had been open since the beginning of January, meaning that many could have cast their ballots in favor of Emilia Perez before the controversy surrounding Gascón kicked off a couple of weeks ago.    

The British Academy had previously revealed that Gascon wasn’t expected to attend the awards, having released a lineup of guests from which she was absent. This came after the Spaniard, who became the first openly transgender actress to be BAFTA- and Oscar-nominated, issued another apology saying she hoped that her “silence will allow the film to be appreciated for what it is, a beautiful ode to love and difference”.

While Gascon skipped the BAFTAs, as she had the Critics Choice Awards, PGA Awards and the Goya Awards, her co-stars Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldana were in attendance, both nominated in the best supporting actress category. The two were also among the presenters at the ceremony.

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