Baftas 2011: Best film The King's Speech rules the night

Colin Firth and Black Swan’s Natalie Portman won the lead acting prizes and David Fincher was named best director for The Social Network.

In an evening of few surprises, The King’s Speech also won prizes for best British film as well as a pair of triumphs in the supporting actor categories for Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter, who said on accepting her award: ”I’d like to thank the royal family, they’ve done wonders for my career.”

David Seidler’s original screenplay won its category, as did Alexandre Desplat’s score.

Tanya Seghatchian, Head of the UK Film Council’s Film Fund said it was a “triumph for the creators, cast and everyone involved with The King’s Speech,” and a “great validation for the UK film industry as a whole and an amazing legacy for the UK Film Council,” whilst Elstree Studios MD Roger Morris told Screen he was “so proud” of the fact that The King’s Speech used Elstree Studios, adding that  “no other film in the 85 year history of Elstree Studios has won or been nominated for so many awards.”

The Social Network walked away with three Baftas for Fincher, Aaron Sorkin’s adapated screenplay and editing, whilst Christopher Nolan’s Inception also faired strongly in the technical categories picking up Baftas for best sound, production design and special visual effects.

Inception actor Tom Hardy beat off stiff competition from Andrew Garfield and Gemma Arterton to win the Orange Rising Star Award, with Chris Morris’ Four Lions named the Outstanding British debut feature.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo won the foreign film prize.

The Harry Potter films were honoured with the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. JK Rowling, who collected the award along with stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, produer David Heyman and three of the Harry Potter directors, said it was “strange to remember how wary I was of letting anyone put Harry on the screen, and it was David Heyman who persuaded me. How right I was to trust him.”

Kevin Spacey, Samuel L Jackson, Tilda Swinton, Gerard Butler, Jessica Alba, Amy Adams, Thandie Newton and Rosamund Pike were amongst those handing out awards at last night’s starry ceremony.

It was followed by a three course dinner at the Grovesnor House Hotel in London, and a series of after parties around London.

BAFTA WINNERS 2011

BEST FILM
The King’s Speech — Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
The King’s Speech — Tom Hooper, David Seidler, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
Four Lions – Chris Morris (Director/Writer)

DIRECTOR
The Social Network — David Fincher

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The King’s Speech — David Seidler 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Social Network - Aaron Sorkin

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo — Søren Stærmose, Niels Arden Oplev

ANIMATED FILM
Toy Story 3 — Lee Unkrich

LEADING ACTOR
Colin Firth — The King’s Speech

LEADING ACTRESS
Natalie Portman — Black Swan

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech

ORIGINAL MUSIC
The King’s Speech – Alexandre Desplat

CINEMATOGRAPHY
True Grit — Roger Deakins

EDITING
The Social Network – Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Inception – Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Doug Mowat

COSTUME DESIGN
Alice In Wonderland – Colleen Atwood

SOUND
Inception – Richard King, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A Rizzo, Ed Novick

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Inception – Chris Corbould, Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Peter Bebb

MAKE UP & HAIR
Alice In Wonderland – Valli O’Reilly, Paul Gooch

SHORT ANIMATION
The Eagleman Stag – Michael Please

SHORT FILM
Until The River Runs Red – Paul Wright, Poss Kondeatis

THE ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING STAR AWARD
Tom Hardy

ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP
Sir Christopher Lee

OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA
The Harry Potter films