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The Favourite - Winners' Acceptance Speech, Original Screenplay, EE British Academy Film Awards in 2019

10 February 2019

Winner's acceptance speech by Tony McNamara and Deborah Davis for The Favourite in the Original Screenplay category 

DEBORAH DAVIS:  I'm so excited to be standing here to receive my first BAFTA for my first screenplay.  Thank you for celebrating our female-dominated movie about women in power.  

Yorgos, what a masterpiece you have created.  You have delivered on all our dreams.

I must thank my fantastic producers, Ed, Lee and Ceci.  Ceci, you and I go back 20 years.  You fought so many battles on behalf of this film and you won every single one of them.

Thank you to my brilliant agent.  Thank you to my wonderful sons.  Thank you to my fabulous mother.  Hi, Mum!

And thank you to my favourite scriptwriter, Tony McNamara.

TONY MCNAMARA:  Thank you, BAFTA.  Thank you, Deborah, for finding this amazing story.  Thank you, Yorgos, for the best time I have ever had in developing a script, and when I was in rehearsal with this, with these actors, listening to Olivia and Rachel and Emma and Joe and Nick and Mark.  I remember thinking, "Oh, I think this is going to be good", and it was, and it was such a joy to be around such amazing talents through the whole film, who also turned out to be the loveliest people to drink heavily with.  

Thank you.