British talent swept the floor at the awards ceremony of the 18th FestivalInternational des Programmes Audiovisuels (FIPA) in Biarritz, which is run by Cannes Directors'Fortnight founder Pierre Henri Delleau.

The BBC Northern Ireland TV production Gunpowder, Treason andPlot, directed by Gillies MacKinnon, was awarded the Golden Fipa in theseries and serials section.

The film, whichexplores the lives of Mary Queen of Scots and her son King James I, won three more Golden Fipas, one for Jimmy MacGovern's screenplay, and one each for the leading actors Clemence Poesy and Kevin McKidd.

In the same section Samuel Sim received a Golden Fipa for his score in theBBC TV production Dunkirk directed by Alex Holmes.

Brenda Blethyn won a best actress Golden Fipa for her leading part inProducers Films' Belonging, directed by Chris Menaul and presented inthe fiction films competition. The filmreceived two more Golden Fipas: one for best screenplay (Alan Plater) and asecond one for best original score (Martyn Swain).

Six different international juries, headed by the likes of Sir ChristopherLee and Karlovy-Vary festival director Eva Zaoralova, presented awards at the for the six competition sections which comprised 160 films.