Stars including Cate Blanchett, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Barkhad Abdi proudly showed off their BAFTA statuettes at a post awards bash in central...
Stars including Cate Blanchett, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Barkhad Abdi proudly showed off their BAFTA statuettes at a post awards bash in central London on Sunday (February 16).nnBritish-made film "Gravity" came away as the big winner of the night, winning a total of six gongs including British Film, Director, Cinematography, Music, Sound and Visual Effects.nnPrior to winning, the astronaut drama had garnered some controversy by being listed as British film. However, director Alfonso Cuaron said how thrilled he was to have won the Best British Film award.nn"I'm very proud of that and almost half of my films I have done here. I have lived here for the last 13 years and I'm very grateful because I have been embraced by this country and this community," Cuaron said.nnDirector David O. Russell, whose film "American Hustle" went away with three gongs, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Jennifer Lawrence, said despite all the success he won't let the hype of the awards season go to his head.nn"You're grateful if you can be part of it.You put all of your heart into the movies you make. You don't worry about the rest of it. You can't focus on that stuff. You are just grateful. If you put everything into every day, you shoot and treat it like it is your last possibility to make a movie. It's the only way I know how to make good pictures," Russell said.nnAustralian actress Cate Blanchett, who added yet another win for her role in Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine" spoke about her surprise when her name was called out - especially after discovering she wasn't seated close to the stage.nn"I'm thrilled. Absolutely thrilled. You never expect these things to happen. I was in row G so I didn't think I was going to be called up," Blanchett said.nnAt the show, Blanchett dedicated her BAFTA to "buddy" Philip Seymour Hoffman, who tragically passed away earlier this month.nn"It's an enormous loss for his family and friends and for audiences who loved him. If I could be a quarter of the actor he was then I would be a lucky girl," Blanchett told Reuters.nnBritish director Steve McQueen's drama "12 Years a Slave" scooped this year's award for Best Film as well as a BAFTA for its leading man, Chiwetel Ejiofor.nnSpeaking on the red carpet for the aftershow party, Ejiofor said "It's really exciting. Just a deep honour to win a BAFTA and for a film that I think all who were involved with it, were so passionate about and really proud of. A lot of people worked incredibly hard over a short period of time to make this film and they did that because they were determined to tell Soloman Northup's story and to get the story out there in the best way in which we all could. Of course it is thrilling to be recognised in this way and for the film to be recognised also."nnA very proud BAFTA winner, Steve Coogan, posed for cameras with his Best Adapted Screenplay award for "Philomena". The film lost out in the British Film and Best Actress categories, but Coogan explained why the screenplay category matters most to him.nn"No one advised me to take this story or to take Philomena's story from the newspaper. I just read it four years ago one night and I wondered if I could turn it into a film. So I feel like I got a big fat slap on the back," he said.nnOther guests at the bash included fellow nominees Tom Hanks, Michael Fassbender, Dame Judi Dench and Oprah Winfrey. Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal and British singer Noel Gallagher were also among the crowd. Less
