Paddy Considine’s hard hitting, low budget Tyrannosaur was a fitting BIFA winner at an awards’ show dedicated to supporting British independent talent.

It was great to see Paddy Considine’s Tyrannosaur winning big at the BIFAs last night. Despite its brilliant performances and superb direction, the film only took £240K at the UK box office, making this kind of awards recognition even more relevant.

Whether the harrowing film can go on to BAFTA success is a different matter, but its BIFA success should at least guarantee a few more BAFTA voters will watch it over the holidays (although perhaps not on Christmas day..it might dampen the mood somewhat).

BIFAs

From Andrew Haigh’s gem of a love story Weekend winning two awards, to Lynne Ramsay picking up the best director prize for We Need To Talk About Kevin - it was a night to be genuinely proud of British film.

And the event itself was rather fun too. The champagne was flowing and the number of A-Listers in the room was obscene – from Daniel Craig to Vanessa Redgrave to Ralph Fiennes to Gemma Arterton. Not to mention the little matter of Bradley Cooper, who made a last minute surprise appearance, and Downton Abbey’s Mr Matthew Crawley (aka Dan Stevens), who was sitting at the next table.

The evening’s hilarious host Chris O’Dowd was a particular revelation, not least because he appeared to be getting tipsier as the evening progressed, despite sticking to water throughout the ceremony.

Chris ODowd

Screen left very sensibly around midnight, when the night appeared to be getting ever so slightly messy. And so it should. For an event which prides itself on being the edgier, cooler face of awards ceremonies, I’d say a bit of irresponsible behaviour is obligatory.