Scots winning the top prize at the BAFTAs
A triathlete and a film director are amongst the Scottish stars winning big at last night’s BAFTAs.
Lesley Paterson is a professional triathlete turned film producer from Stirling and a genius behind Netflix’s new war film “All Quiet on the Western Front”.
The German-language film won a total of five BAFTAs at the London ceremony last night with Ms. Paterson picking up the award for Best Adapted Screenplay herself.
She posted a selfie with the trophy to her Twitter account writing: “Past my bedtime but I’ll let it slide!”
After a successful career as a triathlete, Ms Paterson moved to Los Angeles to begin a second career in screenwriting.
It was 16 years ago that she came across the idea of “All Quiet on the Western Front”.
She said: “I was aware of the novel and it was so powerful. We knew it hadn’t been turned into a film for a long time, not in a modern sense anyway.
“And so that’s when we looked into the rights and low and behold they were available which is almost unheard of for a title of this calibre.”
“All Quiet on the Western Front” is based on the anti-war novel by Erich Maria Remarque which focusses on the disturbing realities of the First World War.
It follows a young soldier, Paul, as he is stripped of innocence and naivety whilst trying to survive the Western Front trenches.
It’s received glowing reviews from critics who have applauded the graphic realism shown in the two-hour picture.
Joining Scottish prize-winners at the BAFTAs is also Charlotte Wells, a film director originally from Edinburgh.
She picked up the award for Outstanding debut for coming-of-age film, “Aftersun”.
The film follows a divorced Dad – played by Normal People’s Paul Mescal – and his daughter on a family holiday to Turkey.
In the wake of the Turkish and Syrian earthquake, Ms Wells thanked the Turkish crews that helped make the film.
She said: “A special thank you to our Turkish crew.
“Most of our crew were Turkish.
“I don’t think anyone in that country has been untouched by the earthquake that has affected so much of Turkey and Syria.
“Shout out to the DEC for continuing to support the relief there.”
Both Scots will soon be heading to Los Angeles for the Oscars on the 13th of March.
“All Quiet on the Western Front” is among the top runners to win big with nine nominations including Best Picture.
