The 2010 BAFTA Film Awards
Tonight saw the 2010 awards of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts take place at London's Royal Opera House. The BBC have broadcast the ceremony since, both in the UK and on their BBC America channel though – rather appallingly – this broadcast was purposefully scheduled to not take place live but after a two hour delay. Imagine if the Oscars were broadcast in this way...!?
After the break, the full list of winners and a few tidbits about the ceremony as broadcast.
Here are the main awards as listed on the BAFTA official winner's list – so not in show order at all.
BEST FILM
THE HURT LOCKER Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
FISH TANK Kees Kasander, Nick Laws, Andrea Arnold
OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
DUNCAN JONES Director – Moon
DIRECTOR
THE HURT LOCKER Kathryn Bigelow
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
THE HURT LOCKER Mark Boal
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
UP IN THE AIR Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner
A PROPHET Pascal Caucheteux, Marco Cherqui, Alix Raynaud, Jacques AudiardANIMATED FILM
UP Pete Docter
LEADING ACTOR
COLIN FIRTH A Single Man
LEADING ACTRESS
CAREY MULLIGAN An Education
SUPPORTING ACTOR
CHRISTOPH WALTZ Inglourious Basterds
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
MO'NIQUE Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
MUSIC
UP Michael Giacchino
CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE HURT LOCKER Barry Ackroyd
EDITING
THE HURT LOCKER Bob Murawski, Chris Innis
PRODUCTION DESIGN
AVATAR Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair
COSTUME DESIGN
THE YOUNG VICTORIA Sandy Powell
SOUND
THE HURT LOCKER Ray Beckett, Paul N. J. Ottosson
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
AVATAR Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones
MAKE UP & HAIR
THE YOUNG VICTORIA Jenny Shircore
SHORT ANIMATION
MOTHER OF MANY Sally Arthur, Emma Lazenby
SHORT FILM
I DO AIR James Bolton, Martina Amati
THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
KRISTEN STEWART
Finally, the Academy Fellowship was awarded to Vanessa Redgrave. Uma Thurman took to the stage to introduce her, neither much aided nor abetted by Prince William who, it was stressed, will soon take over Presidency of BAFTA from Richard Attenborough. Baffling.
Duncan Jones was visibly moved by his recognition as Breakthrough British Filmmaker, and it was a wonderful moment. This was the big award he had been given a real shot at, and for it to pay off... well, he was certainly very happy, let me tell you.
As the TV broadcast came to an end, a bunch of the technical and crew awards were shown in brief-clip form. This included the editing, sound and cinematography awards. So that's what the BBC were doing with the time delay – condescending the crew members and technicians who aren't quite as "glamorous" as the actors and directors. Isn't the BBC supposed to avoid such dumbing down at all costs? Isn't that the point of the license fee and Reith's mandate?
One of the awards given on the night (but only glimpsed in the dumbcast) was the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema prize. It was given to Joe Dunton, a technical pioneer of absolutely no marquee value but a true and genuine treasure to the industry. Dunton and his son Lester have been behind any number of camera and technical advances and inventions, first as Joe Dunton and Co. and more lately under the auspices of Panavision. Anamorphic lenses and video assist systems may be taken for granted on sets these days, but when they were new, it was up to Dunton to perfect them, fight for them, convince filmmakers of their value. Dunton's impact on film will last far, far longer than Kristen Stewart's, we can guarantee that.
As Jason Reitman was not present (Edgar Wright appeared to be Anna Kendrick's date, and proved a fairly convincing Reitman facsimile beside her in the auditorium), Sheldon Turner took to the stage to accept the Adapted Screenplay Award. A nice twist in the mild-controversy of that particular tale (see The LA Times for background).
Another highlight saw Mickey Rourke take to the stage to give the Best Actress prize. Not quite able to read the auto-cue perfectly, he made a delicious meal of his moment.
As clips from the show make their way onto YouTube I'll go about rounding up the best for Friday's /Film UK. Expect to see Rourke, Colin Firth and – hopefully – the craftspeople that the BBC ghettoised.