01/02/2006

Fernando Meirelles’ The Constant Gardener [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] among the top contender for yesterday’s Oscars nominations, won the Best Film and Best Actor awards (for Ralph Fiennes) at Monday evening’s Evening Standard British Film Awards held in London. The thriller was recently nominated for 10 Bafta awards and Rachel Weisz was voted Best Supporting Actress both at the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Hollywood.

Natasha Richardson won the Best Actress Award for her role in David Mackenzie’s Asylum [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Tom Hollander the Peter Sellers Award for Comedy for his performance in Pride & Prejudice [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Marc O’Halloran the Best Screenplay for Lenny Abrahamson’s Irish film Adam & Paul and Neil Marshall’s horror film The Descent [+see also:
trailer
film profile] the Best Technical Achievement.
Saul Dibb, the director of the low-budget thriller Bullet Boy released in April 2005 by Verve Pictures in the UK was named the Most Promising Newcomer and Nick Park, the creator of Wallace & Gromit received the Alexander Walker Special Award for his contribution to British film.

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Veteran and esteemed journalist Derek Malcolm who was among the jury of UK film critics said that this year’s Evening Standard Awards winners reflected the UK film industry’s versatility. «As long as we can keep on making a wide variety of films, there is no cause for pessimism about British filmmaking», he declared.