May 21, 2012

BAFTA Award Winners Announced

by Andrew Gnerre | Published February 11, 2008

James McAvoy and Keira Knightley star in Joe Wright's Atonement (2007), based on the novel by Ian McEwan. Photo: Focus Features

This year’s British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award winners are official. In addition to the results that have become commonplace this awards season (Daniel Day-Lewis and Javier Bardem winning Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively), there were a few surprises, namely Atonement’s win for Best Picture. The British romance certainly benefited from a little home field advantage, beating out consistent frontrunners No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood to reclaim some of its post-Golden Globes momentum, right in time for the Oscars.

As for the ceremony’s two British-centric awards, Shane Meadows’ This is England took home the award for Best British Film, while the Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in their First Feature Film went to Matt Greenhalgh for his screenplay for Control.

The Edith Piaf biopic La Vie en Rose took home the most hardware, winning four awards including a somewhat unexpected Best Actress win for Marion Cotillard, who beat out two British favorites in Julie Christie (Away from Her) and Keira Knightley (Atonement). No Country for Old Men took home a total of three awards including a Best Director trophy for Joel and Ethan Coen and Best Cinematography for their frequent collaborator, Roger Deakins.

For the complete list of winners, visit www.bafta.org.