09/02/2010

Andrea Arnold’s much-acclaimed Fish Tank [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrea Arnold
film profile] has won Best Film at the annual Evening Standard British Film Awards on Monday night.

Andy Serkis won Best Actor for his searing portrayal of rock star Ian Dury in Mat Whitecross’ Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. Serkis dedicated his award to the late musician saying, “Ian wherever you are, this is for you.”

Anne-Marie Duff won Best Actress for her forceful performance as John Lennon’s mother Julia in Sam Taylor-Wood’s Nowhere Boy. Duff thanked her husband, actor James McAvoy from the podium, referring to her role in the film saying, “I'd really like to be Mrs McAvoy for a minute and say thank you for seriously having to live with a flame-haired broken-hearted banjo player for quite some time.”

In the Loop [+see also:
trailer
film profile]’s caustic writing continued to win plaudits as Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche took home the Best Screenplay award for the film. Sacha Baron Cohen won the Peter Sellers Award for Comedy for Bruno, an award he had won in 2006 for Borat.

The London Museum Award for Technical Achievement went to veteran British cinematographer Barry Ackroyd for his work on The Hurt Locker. Another veteran, director/cinematographer Nicolas Roeg was given the Alexander Walker Special Award for contribution to cinema.

Peter Strickland won the Most Promising Newcomer award for his direction and screenplay of Katalin Varga [+see also:
film review
trailer
Interview Peter Strickland - Director …
film profile] while Sacha Gervasi won Best Documentary for Anvil! The Story of Anvil.

John Woodward, CEO of the UK Film Council, said: “Now that the awards season is underway, it's great to see UK Film Council-funded films making their mark in four of the nine Evening Standard award categories. Fish Tank and In The Loop continue their run of award recognition…whilst Anne Marie Duff and Andy Serkis are well-deserved winners for their outstanding individual performances. This all adds up to another great night of awards success for independent British film.”