It was a decent night for director Michel Hazanavicius, as he watched his film “The Artist” pick up numerous awards at last night’s BAFTAs (British Academy Film Awards), including a couple for himself which includes “Best Film” as well as “Best Director”. A total of eight awards were handed for “The Artist”, which included Jean Dujardin receive the “Best Actor,” overcoming the likes of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender and the seemingly favourite to win it on the night, Gary Oldman. On stage it seemed as though the man himself was truly made for movies, as Jean Dujardin accepted the award with a humble attitude and humorous “silence moment” which we all could not help but eat up the attitude of someone who is destined for greatness amongst hollywood…

Watching the awards last night gave us all a reminder how 2011 really was a ear of great films. Documentaries included, the well deserved “Senna” received the awards for being the best at just that, as well as deserving the “Editing” nod of approval. It could also not be more typically British and argumentative, for people overseas especially to complain, than to hand out awards to the likes of “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” for “Outstanding British Film” and Meryl Streep handed the award for “Best Actress” for playing as Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.” Whilst this was expected, it does not take away Tilda Swinton’s performance at all from her role in “We Need to Talk About Kevin” which was surprisingly featured so prominently through the awards.

Speaking of surprises, it is not an award show without a few occuring. Two which stand out for us was “Best Animation”, which once again, surprisingly, “The Adventures Of Tintin” was overlooked and instead the award was handed to Johnny Depp-voiced “Rango”. The “Orange Rising Star Award” was also one of realization regards to what sense of people vote in for the award (and that is fine, though was it really the best choice?), as Adam Deacon (KidultHood, AdultHood, AnuvaHood) nabbed the award. It was also a little disappointing not to see Joe Cornish winning “Outstanding Debut” for his movie “Attack The Block”, however “Tyrannosaur” was a well deserved win also by director Paddy Considine.

The two highlights of the night included actor John hurt receiving recognition for “Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema” as well as Martin Scorsese receiving the Academy Fellowship. Both delivered heart-felt speeches and were well deserved for their work and display of character throughout their careers highlighted.

It is an award show which, personally, is enjoyable to watch. Stephen Fry as host could not have been any better and as normal the stars on the red carpet looked fantastic. Checkout the full list of winners below and let us know your thoughts plus opinions on the awards show itself – think “The Artist” rightfully won its respective awards?:

Academy Fellowship: Martin Scorsese

Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema: John Hurt

Best film

WINNER: The Artist

Nominees:
The Artist
The Descendants
Drive
The Help
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Outstanding British film

WINNER: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Nominees:
My Week With Marilyn
Senna
Shame
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
We Need To Talk About Kevin

Best director

WINNER: Michel Hazanavicius

Nominees:
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Tomas Alfredson – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Lynne Ramsay – We Need To Talk About Kevin

Best actor

WINNER: Jean Dujardin

Nominees:
Brad Pitt – Moneyball
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
George Clooney – The Descendants
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Michael Fassbender – Shame

Best actress

WINNER: Meryl Streep

Nominees:
Berenice Bejo – The Artist
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn
Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin
Viola Davis – The Help

Best supporting actor

WINNER: Christopher Plummer

Nominees:
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Jim Broadbent – The Iron Lady
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Ides of March

Best supporting actress

WINNER: Octavia Spencer

Nominees:
Carey Mulligan – Drive
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Judi Dench – My Week with Marilyn
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Octavia Spencer – The Help

Outstanding debut

WINNER: Tyrannosaur

Nominees:
Attack The Block – Joe Cornish (director/writer)
Black Pond – Will Sharpe (director/writer), Tom Kingsley (director), Sarah Brocklehurst (producer)
Coriolanus – Ralph Fiennes (director)
Submarine – Richard Ayoade (director/writer)
Tyrannosaur – Paddy Considine (director), Diarmid Scrimshaw (producer)

Best foreign language film

WINNER: The Skin I Live In

Nominees:
Incendies (Canada)
Pina (Germany)
Potiche (France)
A Separation (Iran)
The Skin I Live In (Spain)

Best animated feature film

WINNER: Rango

Nominees:
The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn
Arthur Christmas
Rango

Best documentary

WINNER:Senna

Nominees:
Senna
George Harrison: Living in the Material World
Project Nim

Best original screenplay

WINNER: The Artist

Nominees:
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids – Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
The Guard – John Michael McDonagh
The Iron Lady – Abi Morgan
Midnight In Paris – Woody Allen

Best adapted screenplay

WINNER: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Nominees:
The Descendants – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
The Help – Tate Taylor
The Ides Of March – George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
Moneyball – Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan

Best original score

WINNER: The Artist – Ludovic Bource

Nominees:
The Artist – Ludovic Bource
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
Hugo – Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Alberto Iglesias
War Horse – John Williams

Cinematography

WINNER: The Artist

Nominees:
The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Jeff Cronenweth
Hugo – Robert Richardson
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Hoyte van Hoytema
War Horse – Janusz Kaminski

Editing

WINNER: Senna

Nominees:
The Artist – Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
Drive – Mat Newman
Hugo – Thelma Schoonmaker
Senna – Gregers Sall, Chris King
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Dino Jonsater

Production design

WINNER: Hugo

Nominees:
The Artist
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Costume design

WINNER: The Artist

Nominees:
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
My Week With Marilyn
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Sound

WINNER: Hugo

Nominees:
The Artist
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

Special Visual Effects

WINNER: Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2

Nominees:
The Adventures Of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
War Horse

Make-up and hair

WINNER: The Iron Lady

Nominees:
The Artist
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo
The Iron Lady
My Week With Marilyn

Short animation

WINNER: A Morning Stroll

Nominees:
Abuelas
Bobby Yeah Robert Morgan
A Morning Stroll

Short film

WINNER: Pitch Black Heist

Nominees:
Chalk
Mwansa The Great
Only Sound Remains
Pitch Black Heist
Two And Two

Rising Star Award

WINNER: Adam Deacon

Nominees:
Adam Deacon
Chris Hemsworth
Chris O’Dowd
Eddie Redmayne
Tom Hiddleston