Roman Polanski's The Pianist completed a dazzling weekend last night, winning the best film and director trophies at the British Film Academy Awards in London. On Saturday night in Paris, the film swept the Cesar awards taking best film, director and actor prizes. Brody, who won the Cesar but lost the BAFTA to Daniel Day-Lewis, accepted the award on Polanski's behalf.
Day-Lewis won the BAFTA for Gangs Of New York, the sole award of the evening for the Martin Scorsese-directed film. Meanwhile Oscar favourites Chicago and The Hours won two BAFTAs apiece. Chicago won best supporting actress for Catherine Zeta-Jones and best sound, while The Hours won best actress for Nicole Kidman and best music for Philip Glass.
Kidman dedicated the award to her two co-stars Meryl Streep and Julianne Mooore. "It's so lovely to share this award with two very special women," she said. "I'll divide this between the three of us."
Other multiple winners included Pedro Almodovar who took best foreign language film and best original screenplay for Talk To Her, Road To Perdition which won production design and cinematography awards, the latter for the late Conrad Hall, and The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers, which won three BAFTAs in total - for costume design, visual effects and the public award for film of the year.
Asif Kapadia's The Warrior beat Bend It Like Beckham and The Hours among others to be named Best British Film as well as winning the Carl Foreman Award for best first feature.
Meryl Streep picked up the adapted screenplay trophy on behalf of Charlie (and Donald) Kaufman for Adaptation. Other winners included Christopher Walken for best supporting actor for Catch Me If You Can, Frida for best make-up and hair and City Of God for best editing.
The BAFTA wins for The Pianist vault the Holocaust drama into the forefront of Oscar contenders, having previously been considered a relative outsider against the collective Miramax-backed might of Chicago, Gangs Of New York and The Hours. The Pianist began its awards run last May when it won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and it has been gaining critical momentum on its current US release through Focus Features, culminating in six Oscar nominations including best picture, director and actor.
BAFTA Film Awards winner list
Best film The Pianist (Roman Polanski, Robert Benmussa & Alain Sarde, producers)
Best British film The Warrior (Bertrand Faivre & Asif Kapadia, producers)
Best foreign language film Talk To Her (Agustin Almodovar & Pedro Almodovar, producers)
David Lean Award for achievement in direction Roman Polanski The Pianist
Best actor Daniel Day-Lewis Gangs Of New York
Best actress Nicole Kidman The Hours
Best supporting actor Christopher Walken Catch Me If You Can
Best supporting actress Catherine Zeta-Jones Chicago
Best original screenplay Pedro Almodovar Talk To Her
Best adapted screenplay Charlie Kaufman & Donald Kaufman Adaptation
Best cinematography Conrad L Hall Road To Perdition
Best production design Dennis Gassner Road To Perdition
Anthony Asquith Award for achievement in film music Philip Glass The Hours
Best editing Daniel Rezende City Of God
Best sound Michael Minkle, Dominick Tavella, David Lee & Maurice Schell Chicago
Best costume design Ngila Dickson & Richard Taylor The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Best visual effects Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook & Alex Funke The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
Best makeup & hair Judy Chin, Beatrice De Alba, John Jackson & Regina Reyes Frida
Carl Foreman Award for special achievement in first feature film Asif Kapadia The Warrior
Best short film My Wrongs 8245-8249 And 117 (Mark Herbert & Chris Morris)
Best short animation Fish Never Sleep (Gaelle Denis)
Film of the year (public vote) The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
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