Paul Thomas Anderson won the BAFTA Film Award for best director for his satire 'One Battle After Another'. Accepting the award, he joked, 'I feel like the prettiest girl in the room right now,' drawing laughter from the audience.
Anderson turned serious as he dedicated the award to the late producer and assistant director Adam Somner. 'You may think your greatest export is Alfred Hitchcock or Charlie Chaplin, but it wasn't. To me, it was Adam Somner,' he said. 'He came over to America and the line was out the door of people who wanted to work with him because he made us all better.'
Somner, a Briton, worked with Anderson for about 20 years. The director revealed that Somner discovered he was ill three weeks into filming but continued through production. 'If you've ever gone to work with someone who's very ill, there's something miraculous that makes you pay attention and reminds you of the privilege of the work we do,' Anderson added.
This is Anderson's first BAFTA win for best director, after previous nominations for 'We Will Be Blood' and 'Licorice Pizza'. 'One Battle After Another' led the BAFTA nominations with 14, just two short of the record set by 'Gandhi'. The film has 13 Oscar nominations, with hopes Anderson will finally win an Academy Award.
