Brokeback Mountain Wins Four BAFA Awards

Posted on February 20, 2006

Brokeback Mountain cleaned up at the BAFA (Orange British Film Academy) awards. It snagged four awards include Best Film, Best Director and Best Support Actor (Jake Gyllenhall). Writers Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana won Best Adapted Screenplay.

Philip Seymour Hoffman was named best actor for "Capote" and Reese Witherspoon won as best actress for "Walk the Line." Thandie Newton won as best supporting actress in "Crash."
James Schamus, who produced "Brokeback" with co-scripter Ossana, noted it was a "gay shepherd movie" and not a gay cowboy movie. He thanked all at Focus and his "chief shepherd Ang Lee" for putting the movie together. He described producing "Brokeback" as "the greatest professional part of my life."
Lee told the gathered press that after "The Hulk," he had been very stressed. "I felt very blessed to work with James again," Lee said. Schamus helped produce Lee's "Sense And Sensibility" over 10 years ago. Lee also thanked the film's backers for giving an Asian director the opportunity to make such a film.

And speaking of The Hulk: we were totally shocked that they're going to make Hulk II and -- we kid you not-- David Duchovny is negotiating to star in the film which will go direct to video. Apparantly, the minute he heard it wasn't going to be released on the big screen, Eric Bana said "thanks, but no thanks."