Earlier today, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) announced their awards with The Artist ending up as the big winner, which is no surprise given its amazing success throughout the awards season thus far. The film took home a total of seven awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay.
The BAFTAs aren’t really considered a particularly good indicator of what will happen at the Oscars, though many of the winners will be the same. Some notable differences will probably include Viola Davis taking Best Actress, Midnight in Paris taking Best Original Screenplay, and Moneyball taking Best Adapted Screenplay. Of course, these aren’t really set in stone, but this is the way things are leaning at the moment. However, there’s always a chance for an upset.
This being the British Academy Awards, there was bound to be a little love for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, despite it not being that good of a film. Also, the win for Meryl Streep was not entirely unexpected given that she plays ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Other notable differences in the way awards season has been progressing include BAFTA awarding the final Harry Potter film Best Visual Effects when Rise of the Planet of the Apes seems to have a lock on the Oscar and awarding Best Foreign Language Film to The Skin I Live In when it would be a shock if anything but A Separation were to win the award from the American Academy.
One thing that is for sure is that The Artist is a seemingly-unstoppable juggernaut, and if anything other than it were to take home Best Picture on February 26th, it would be one of the biggest upsets in Academy history.
Please see below for a complete list of BAFTA winners:
Best Film: The Artist
Best Director – Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Best Leading Actress – Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
Best Leading Actor – Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer (The Help)
Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Best Adapted Screenplay: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan)
Best Original Screenplay: The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius)
Best British Film: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Best Animated Film: Rango
Best Documentary: Senna
Best Film not in the English Language: The Skin I Live In
Production Design – Hugo (Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo)
Best Cinematography: The Artist (Guillaume Schiffman)
Best Editing: Senna (Gregers Sall, Chris King)
Best Original Music: The Artist (Ludovic Bource)
Best Costume Design: The Artist (Mark Bridges)
Best Sound: Hugo (Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty, Tom Fleischman, John Midgley)
Outstanding Debut: Tyrannosaur
Best Visual Effects: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt 2
Best Make Up & Hair – The Iron Lady (Mark Coulier, J. Roy Helland, Marese Langan)
Best Short Film: Pitch Black Heist
Best Short Animation: A Morning Stroll
Outstanding Contribution To British Cinema: John Hurt
Academy Fellowship: Martin Scorsese
Orange Rising Star Award: Adam Deacon