LONDON  - Papal selection thriller Conclave and period drama The Brutalist were the big winners at the BAFTA Film Awards on Sunday, winning four prizes each.

Conclave, which had led nominations with 12 nods, won the night's most coveted award, best film, as well as outstanding British film, best adapted screenplay and best editing.

"We live in a time of a crisis of democracy and institutions that are usually used to bring us together are used to pull us apart," Conclave director Edward Berger said in his acceptance speech for the outstanding British film award.

"And sometimes it's hard to keep the faith in that situation but that's why we make movies and that's why we made this movie."

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The Brutalist, a three-and-a-half hour tale about a Hungarian immigrant architect trying to rebuild his life in the United States post-World War Two, had also been considered a frontrunner for best film. It won best director for Brady Corbet and best actor for its star, Adrien Brody.

"This film is really about this pursuit of leaving something meaningful and I think that is something we can all relate to," Brody said in his acceptance speech.

The Brutalist also won original score and cinematography.

In one of the big surprises of the night, Mikey Madison won the leading actress category for portraying an exotic dancer who gets involved with a Russian oligarch's son in Anora.

Many had considered the frontrunners to be Demi Moore, who has received multiple honours for her performance in body horror The Substance, and Briton Marianne Jean-Baptiste, for her critically acclaimed portrayal of a woman struggling with depression in Hard Truths.

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"I really wasn't expecting this," Madison said.

"I want to take to a moment to recognise the sex worker community ... you deserve respect and human decency. I will always be your friend."

Anora, considered a strong awards season contender after it and director Sean Baker triumphed at the Critics Choice Awards, as well as the Producers and Directors Guild of America Awards ahead of next month's Academy Awards, was also up for best film, as was Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown.

Saldana, Culkin win

Fellow best film nominee Emilia Perez, which mixes the diverse genres of musical and crime, triumphed in the film not in the English language category.

"This is too nice, you shouldn't have done that," director Jacques Audiard said, accepting his award. "This award is not just for me but everyone who worked tirelessly on this film."

He thanked the film's cast members, including an absent Karla Sofia Gascon, who had been nominated for leading actress.

Zoe Saldana won supporting actress for her portrayal of a lawyer who helps a Mexican cartel leader, played by Gascon, fake his death and transition from a man to a woman.

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Emilia Perez, had been an early awards frontrunner but its campaign lost steam following controversy surrounding Gascon, who has apologised for past social media posts denigrating Muslims and other groups and said she would go silent to help the movie ahead of the Oscars.

In the supporting actor category, Kieran Culkin won for dramedy A Real Pain. The movie also picked up best original screenplay for writer-director Jesse Eisenberg.