A scene from Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity.
British director Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave, a haunting American drama, won best picture tonight and actor Chiwetel Ejiofor was awarded the best actor award in London as the British Academy of Film and Television Arts presented awards for the best movies of 2013.
Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity, an outer space adventure, won six prizes and was named best British film of the year at the ceremony. It had received the most nominations this year — a total of 11 nods — putting the film ahead of McQueen's Slave and David O. Russell's American Hustle which were nominated in ten categories. Paul Greengrass' Captain Phillips, which opened the 51st New York Film Festival back in September, received nine nominations.
Each of those films received big awards tonight, just two weeks before Oscar night in Hollywood will bring awards season to a close.
Gravity was honored for its directing (Alfonso Cuarón), music, cinematography, sound and visual effects, while Hustle won awards for supporting actress (Jennifer Lawrence), screenplay, as well as make-up and hair. Captain Phillips co-star Barkhad Abdi, a newcomer, won the best supporting actor honor tonight.
Cate Blanchett, an honoree at this year's New York Film Festival, won the best actress prize for her latest, Blue Jasmine.
Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing, a double nominee at the BAFTAs tonight, won the award for best documentary film early on in the ceremony. A provocative look at Indonesian genocide, The Act of Killing screened at last year's New Directors/New Films Series.
Paolo Sorrentino's The Great Beauty, from Italy, won the award for best foreign film.
The Winners
BEST FILM
12 Years A Slave, Anthony Katagas, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
Gravity, Alfonso Cuarón, David Heyman, Jonás Cuarón
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
Kieran Evans, (Director/Writer) Kelly + Victor
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
The Great Beauty, Paolo Sorrentino, Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima
DOCUMENTARY
The Act of Killing, Joshua Oppenheimer
ANIMATED FILM
Frozen, Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
DIRECTOR
Gravity, Alfonso Cuarón
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
American Hustle, Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Philomena, Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope
LEADING ACTOR
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
LEADING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
ORIGINAL MUSIC
Gravity, Steven Price
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Gravity, Emmanuel Lubezki
EDITING
Rush, Dan Hanley, Mike Hill
PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Great Gatsby, Catherine Martin, Beverley Dunn
COSTUME DESIGN
The Great Gatsby, Catherine Martin
MAKE UP & HAIR
American Hustle, Evelyne Noraz, Lori McCoy-Bell, Kathrine Gordon
SOUND
Gravity, Glenn Freemantle, Skip Lievsay, Christopher Benstead, Niv Adiri, Chris Munro
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Gravity, Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, David Shirk, Neil Corbould, Nikki Penny
BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION
Sleeping With The Fishes, James Walker, Sarah Woolner, Yousif Al-Khalifa
BRITISH SHORT FILM
Room 8, James W. Griffiths, Sophie Venner
THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
Will Poulter
OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA
Peter Greenaway
FELLOWSHIP WINNER
Dame Helen Mirren