24/02/2003 - Polanski's Pianist wins best film & director in London with European victories for Zeta-Jones, Day-Lewis, & The Warrior

After winning 7 Césars on Saturday night in Paris, Roman Polanski continued his winning streak yesterday night at the Bafta Awards in London’s Odeon Leicester Square last night where his The Pianist [+see also:
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film profile] won best film and director.
Although major US films like Gangs of New York and Chicago were the favourites with 12 nominations apiece, no single film won more than two statuettes and European films and talent were the evening’s big winners.
Nicole Kidman's outstanding performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours by British director Stephen Daldry won her the best actress award. The film also won a best music award for composer, Philip Glass. Best original screenplay and foreign film Baftas were won by Pedro Almodòvar for Speak To Her – Hable con ella [+see also:
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film profile] and Londoner Asif Kapadia’s The Warrior [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (rejected by the US Academy as the British candidate in the best foreign language film category) won Outstanding British Film of the Year and the Carl Foreman Award for a first film by a British director.
Britain’s Catherine Zeta-Jones won the best supporting actress nod for Chicago and Londoner Daniel Day-Lewis best actor for Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York.
Chicago also won for best sound; Sam Mendes’ Road to Perdition took home the best production design and cinematography awards, while The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers won for best costume design and achievement in special effects. It also won the Orange Film of the Year Audience award. America’s Christopher Walken won a best supporting actor Bafta for Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can. Spike Jonze’s Adaptation won best adapted screenplay, Brazil’s City of God took best editing and Frida best hair and make-up.
In the short film category, the winner was My Wrongs 8245.8249 and 117 while Fish Never Sleep won the best animated film award. First assistant director David Tomlin (Gandhi, Braveheart) and second assistant director Michael Stevenson (Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone) received the Michael Balcon Award for Oustanding British contribution to cinema.