Baftas: Scotland shares glory at prestigious awards

SCOTLAND shared in the glory at the Baftas tonight as Brave, The Making of Longbird and Skyfall scooped prestigious awards at the star-studded ceremony in London.

Disney-Pixar’s Brave, the fantasy set in the Scottish Highlands, was named Best Animated Film whilst Scottish film-makers Will Anderson, from Inverness, and Ainslie Henderson, from Edinburgh, won Best Short Animation for The Making of Longbird.

Skyfall, the latest James Bond movie partly filmed in Glencoe, was named Outstanding British Film of the year.

Elsehwere “Argo” - based on true story of a group of US diplomats spirited out of Tehran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution - was named Best Picture. Director Ben Affleck also took the best director accolade.

Daniel Day-Lewis scooped leading actor for his performance in the title role of Steven Spielberg’s political biopic Lincoln, while leading actress was won by Amour star Emmanuelle Riva.

Les Miserables star Anne Hathaway was named Best Supporting Actress.

She thanked Victor Hugo - the writer of the original novel which inspired the musical - saying: “Without whom, none of us would be here.”

Christoph Waltz won best supporting actor for Django Unchained.

he said it was an “immense honour” and paid tribute to its “silver-penned” writer, Quentin Tarantino.

Skyfall also received the award for best original music.

The 007 movie, the third starring Daniel Craig as the suave spy, is already the highest-grossing film of all time at the UK box office.

“We all had high expectations for this film and this is really the icing on the cake,” director Sam Mendes said.

Mr Mendes also said he would love to make another Bond film.

“I’ve had a great time, it’s been a huge learning curve and we would want to make a better movie next time around, and if we thought we do that they might let me have another go again.”

Some of the biggest names in Hollywood braved the wind, rain and sleet to meet fans on the red carpet for the 66th Awards.

Stars including Dame Helen Mirren - sporting distinctive pink hair - Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, George Clooney and Eddie Redmayne graced the red carpet outside the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.

Scottish star Billy Connolly was also at the event to present the award for an Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer.

Joking that he was “presenting an unsuspecting stranger with a deathmask on a stick”, the comedian and actor gave the award to Bart Layton and Dimitri Doganis for their documentary The Imposter.

Meanwhile director Sir Alan Parker, whose works include The Commitments and Bugsy Malone, was honoured with a British Academy Fellowship.

The award, the highest accolade the Academy can bestow, was given to Martin Scorsese last year.

Trainspotting director Danny Boyle presented the award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema to FilmFour boss Tessa Ross, who he described as a “shy genius”.

He said: “I can pay her no greater compliment than to say she really is the Paul Scholes of the British film industry.”

The award for Best Short Film went to Swimmer which was made by We Need to Talk About Kevin director Lynne Ramsay.

Jacqueline Durran won the award for Costume Design for her work on the Keira Knightley film Anna Karenina.

Lisa Westcott won the award for Best Make-up and Hair for her work on Les Miserables.

The awards for Sound and Editing went to Les Miserables and Ben Affleck’s Iran hostage crisis drama Argo respectively.

Mark Strong presented the Cinematography award to Claudio Miranda for his work on Life Of Pi which was picked up on his behalf by the film director Ang Lee.

The award for Special Visual Effects, also went to the 3D spectacular Life Of Pi.

The award for Best Adapted Screenplay went to David O Russell for Silver Linings Playbook.

The award for Film Not in the English Language went to Amour and the EE Rising Star Award - which is voted for by the filmgoing public - went to Juno Temple.

The winners

Bafta Fellowship: Sir Alan Parker

Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema: Tessa Ross

Best Film: Argo

Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer: Bart Layton, Dimitri Doganis (The Imposter)

Film Not in the English Language: Amour

Documentary: Searching For Sugar Man

Director: Ben Affleck (Argo)

Adapted Screenplay: David O Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)

Leading Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

Leading Actress: Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)

Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

Production Design

Les Miserables (Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson)

Special Visual Effects: Life Of Pi

EE Rising Star Award: Juno Temple