Oscars 2011: Natalie Portman and Colin Firth triumph plus full list of winners

Natalie Portman and Colin Firth walked away with the best actress and actor awards at last night’s Oscars, while The King’s Speech was named Best Film.

The budget Brit film was the night’s biggest winner, also picking up awards for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

Firth’s Best Actor win rounded off an incredible awards season for the star, whose portrayal of King George VI earned him the same award at the Baftas and Golden Globes.

He dedicated his win to “all the stutterers in the world” and “Her Majesty The Queen for not putting me in the Tower for using the F word.”

The actor also thanked “all the people who have been rooting for me back home” and his wife, “’Livia, for putting up with my fleeting delusions of royalty.”

Portman, who had been favourite to pick up the statuette for her portrayal of a tortured ballerina in Black Swan, thanked “my parents, first and foremost for giving me life. And for the opportunity to work at such a young age.”

She also thanked fiancé Benjamin Millepied, with whom she is expecting her first child, for “giving me my most important role of my life.”

While Firth and Portman’s wins had been expected, the biggest award for Best Film had looked much more uncertain.

David Fincher’s The Social Network, which charts the rise of Facebook, had been a strong favourite for the title after winning at the Golden Globes earlier this year.

But after The King’s Speech triumphed at the Screen Actors’ Guild Awards, the competition looked neck-and-neck.

Host James Franco declared “The King’s Speech has now become part of Oscars’ history” as its win was announced.

The film, which cost just £10 million to make, was part-funded by the now-defunct UK Film Council and a host of producers and film-makers who slashed their usual rates to get it made.

Its win is a triumph for the British film industry.

In full: Oscars 2011 winners

Best Film: The King’s Speech

Best Actor: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech

Best Actress: Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Best Director: Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech

Best Art Direction: Alice in Wonderland

Best Cinematography: Wally Pfister, Inception

Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, The Fighter

Best Animated Short Film: The Lost Thing

Best Animated Feature Film: Toy Story 3

Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network