Bafta’s prize masks get a final polish

WITH just days to go before the film industry turns its spotlight onto London for the British Academy film awards, preparations are under way to ensure the glittering prizes are in top condition. The red carpet British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Baftas) ceremony will be at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden on Sunday but the golden awards were yesterday given a polish. The distinctive mask was designed in 1955 by US sculptor Mitzi Cunliffe, taking her inspiration from the traditional theatrical tragicomic mask but including on its reverse an electronic symbol around one eye and a screen symbol around the other.