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