BAFTA 2009 Winners; “Slumdog Millionaire” Won Seven
“Slumdog Millionaire” from British director Danny Boyle won leading seven prizes at the British Academy Film Awards including best film and director honors at London’s Royal Opera House. “Slumdog” also won prizes for best original screenplay, music, cinematography, editing and sound. “Slumdog Millionaire” now bounds into the Kodak Theater for the Academy Awards boosted by major wins at the DGA, PGA, SAG, WGA and Golden Globes.
The movie went into the race with David Fincher’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which won three.
Mickey Rourke poses after winning the award for Leading Actor for “The Wrestler” during the 2009 BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) awards ceremony at the Royal Opera House in London February 8, 2009.
Actor honors went to Mickey Rourke, for role in “The Wrestler,” who thanked Darren Aronofsky for the second chance “after fucking up my career for 15 years” in his speech. “It’s such a pleasure to be back here, out of the darkness,” said Rourke. Kate Winslet won BAFTA gold for role in “The Reader.”
Heath Ledger won a posthumous supporting actor award for “The Dark Knight.” Penelope Cruz (“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”) triumphed in the supporting actress section.
The original screenplay award was presented to Martin McDonagh for “In Bruges.”
The Carl Foreman award for special achievement by a British director, writer or producer went to Steve McQueen for “Hunger.”
In other awards, “Wall-E” won the animated film BAFTA, period drama “The Duchess” won costume design and the BAFTA for outstanding British film this year went to documentary “Man on Wire.” The trophy for best non-English-language movie went to French drama “I’ve Loved You So Long.”
There were no wins for multi-nominated “Changeling” (eight), “Frost/Nixon” (six), “Milk” (four) and “Revolutionary Road” (four).
BEST FILM
“Slumdog Millionaire” – Christian Colson
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
“Man On Wire” – Simon Chinn / James Marsh
LEADING ACTOR
Mickey Rourke – “The Wrestler”
LEADING ACTRESS
Kate Winslet – “The Reader”
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger – “The Dark Knight”
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penélope Cruz – “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
DIRECTOR
“Slumdog Millionaire” – Danny Boyle
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“In Bruges” – Martin Mcdonagh
BAFTA Unveiled Rising Star Nominees
The Rising Star nominees were unveiled at BAFTA’s London headquarters on Thursday.
The nominees are Michael Fassbender, Rebecca Hall, Michael Cera, Noel Clarke and Toby Kebbell.
A jury, led by producer and chair of BAFTA, David Parfitt, and industry figures including casting director Fiona Weir, and actors James McAvoy and Kelly Macdonald, selected the five nominees from a long list of recommendations put forward by the film industry and BAFTA members. The Rising Star nominees must have featured in a film that has been entered for this year’s British Academy Film Awards.
Rebecca Hall is nominated twice on the BAFTA longlists, for her lead role in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and supporting turn in “Frost/Nixon,” which were revealed earlier this week.
Michael Fassbender is longlisted for his arresting portrayal of Irish Republican prisoner Bobby Sands in “Hunger” which won the Camera d’Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival 2008 for Best First Feature.
Doctor Who’s Noel Clarke (33) who will play in “Heartless” (2009) and “Doghouse” (2009), “RocknRolla” star Toby Kebbell (26) played in “Dead Man’s Shoes” (2004) and “Control” (2007) has new role in “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” (2010) and Michael Cera (20) from “Juno,” “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” and “Extreme Movie” who will star in “Paper Heart,” “Youth in Revolt,” “The Year One,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” and “Arrested Development” in 2009, complete the shortlist.
This is the fourth edition of the prize, which was created in honor of the late casting director Mary Selway.
The winner, who will be decided by a public vote via Orange’s website or via text, will be unveiled at the BAFTA awards ceremony, which takes place on February 8, 2009.
Previous winners are Shia LaBeouf, Eva Green and James McAvoy.
British Actor Matt Lucas Joins Astro Boy
Matt Lucas as Dafydd in Little Britain.
Imagi Studios (creator of TMNT), today announced that multiple BAFTA Awards winner Matt Lucas (for the popular BBC comedy series “Little Britain”) has joined the cast of its CG-animated motion picture “Astro Boy.” Lucas joins Nicolas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy and Eugene Levy with Freddie Highmore in the title role.
David Bowers (Flushed Away) is directing Astro Boy from a screenplay written by Timothy Harris (Trading Places, Kindergarten Cop), with Maryann Garger producing.
The iconic character Astro Boy has found global popularity since his creation in the early 1950s by Japan’s Osamu Tezuka, known as the “god of manga” and “father of anime,” and has been the hero of three acclaimed animated television series aired around the world.
The movie is slated for domestic release on October 23, 2009.
BAFTA – Winners
The Orange British Academy Film Awards, Britain’s answer to the Oscars, chosen by the 6,000 voting members of the British Academy of Film and Television, have been regarded as a barometer of who might win at the Oscars since they were brought forward by several weeks in 2001. Last night’s prizes for Day-Lewis and Cotillard are significant pointers towards possible glory in Hollywood next month. Both of them, and Christie, have been nominated for Oscars.
Daniel Day-Lewis, 50, hailed as the Laurence Olivier of his generation, boosted his chance of Oscar glory next month by winning the Best Actor award for his role as a tyrannical oil prospector in There Will be Blood. But Julie Christie, 66, left empty-handed, even though it was assumed widely that her portrayal of an Alzheimer’s sufferer in Away From Her would earn her the Best Actress prize.
Instead, the award went to a 32-year-old French actress, Marion Cotillard, for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose. Critics had described Cotillard’s depiction of the singer, from the age of 19 through to her harrowing death at 47, and her delivery of Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, as “goosebump-inducing”, but few had predicted her win because Baftas, Oscars and Golden Globes tend to relegate foreign films to their own categories.
Keira Knightley’s omission from the winners’ list was among several disappointments for the makers of Atonement. Although the period drama about a doomed wartime romance won Best Film, as well as Production Design, it had been showered with 14 nominations, including Best British Film, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Music, Cinematography, Editing, Sound, Costume Design, and Make-up and Hair.
Bafta believed that it was the first time a French actress had won. Although Audrey Tautou was nominated for Amélie in 2002, she did not win.
McAvoy lost out to Day-Lewis, who was singled out for his towering performance, hailed by one critic as the greatest that he had seen.
Day-Lewis, said that there had been some fantastic English films this year, adding: “I am quite pleased to be part of the circus . . . because it is a good year.”
The Best Director prize went to the Hollywood film-maker Joel Coen who, with his brother Ethan, directed No Country for Old Men. Javier Bardem received the Best
Supporting Actor award.
The winners:
