Brit film The King’s Speech swept the board at last night’s Bafta awards with seven wins, including Best Actor for Colin Firth.
His co-stars Helena Bonham-Carter and Geoffrey Rush walked away with the Best Supporting Actor awards, and Natalie Portman scooped Best Actress for her role in Black Swan.
The King’s Speech, which was made with £1 million of funding from the soon-to-be-defunct UK Film Council, also won the highly-coveted Best Film title.
The historical drama, which tells the story of King George VI’s efforts to overcome his stammer and the resulting friendship with his speech therapist, is now the highest-grossing independent British film of all time.
Helena Bonham Carter, who played the Queen Mother in the film, joked during her acceptance speech: “I think I should thank the Royal Family as they have done wonders for my career.”
It is now expected to sweep the board at The Oscars later this month after triumphing at the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild awards.
Bafta 2011 winners in full:
DIRECTOR: David Fincher, The Social Network
LEADING ACTRESS: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
LEADING ACTOR: Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
BEST FILM: The King’s Speech
ORIGINAL MUSIC: Alexandre Desplat, The King’s Speech
SHORT FILM: Until The River Runs Red
SHORT ANIMATION: The Eagleman Stag
SOUND: Inception
EDITING: The Social Network
MAKE UP & HAIR: Alice in Wonderland
FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
COSTUME DESIGN: Colleen Atwood, Alice in Wonderland
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Inception
SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS: Inception
SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
OUTSTANDING DEBUT: Chris Morris, Four Lions
OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM: The King’s Speech
SUPPORTING ACTOR: Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: David Seidler, The King’s Speech
OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION: The Harry Potter Films
ANIMATED FILM: Toy Story 3
ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING STAR: Tom Hardy
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Roger Deakins, True Grit
FELLOWSHIP: Christopher Lee