Awards News

LONDON -- "Brokeback Mountain" rode away with four BAFTA prizes on Sunday, including film and director.

In an evening of few surprises, Philip Seymour Hoffman took the actor prize for "Capote." Reese Witherspoon drew actress kudos for "Walk the Line," although she wasn't there to accept the award.

Supporting thesp nods went to Jake Gyllenhaal for "Brokeback" and Thandie Newton for "Crash."

That was one of two victories for "Crash," with Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco drawing the original screenplay prize. Larry McMurty and Diana Ossana completed the quartet of awards for "Brokeback" in the adapted screenplay race.

"Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" took the Alexander Korda Award for British film. "Pride & Prejudice" director Joe Wright drew the Carl Foreman Award for a first-time British filmmaker.

In the technical categories, "Memoirs of a Geisha" performed well, with Dion Beebe winning for cinematography, John Williams for music and Colleen Atwood for costumes.

"The Constant Gardener," the most nominated film with 10, had to make do with just one prize, for editor Claire Simpson.

Jacques Audiard's "The Beat My Heart Skipped" was named best film not in the English language.

One nod apiece went to "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (production design), "King Kong" (special visual effects) and "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (makeup and hair). Sound gong went to "Walk the Line."

James McAvoy won the inaugural Orange Rising Star Award, voted by the general public and backed by the same cell-phone company that sponsors BAFTA's film awards.

The only best film nominee to walk away totally empty-handed was "Good Night, and Good Luck." George Clooney also missed out, despite being nominated four times in three categories (director, writer and supporting actor for "Good Night" and supporting actor for "Syriana").

Clooney's achievement was, however, acknowledged several times throughout the ceremony by various winners, most notably by David Puttnam when accepting a BAFTA fellowship.

Admitting that he had retired from filmmaking eight years ago in disillusion at the demise of cinema with a social conscience, Puttnam said, "Mr. Clooney, I take my hat off to you. What you and your colleagues have done for this industry is truly remarkable, and eight years ago I didn't think it could be done."

Picking up the film award for "Brokeback," Focus Features topper James Schamus seized the opportunity to dismiss "this terrible epithet of the gay cowboy movie." "It truly is a universal story of two gay shepherds. It's a gay shepherd movie," he joked.

Lee, accepting the David Lean Award for direction, thanked BAFTA for its consistent support of his work, dating back to "The Ice Storm," "Sense and Sensibility" and "The Wedding Banquet."

A breathless Gyllenhaal said "Brokeback" meant "even more to me socially than it does artistically."

Ceremony, hosted with his familiar mix of irreverence and ironic effusiveness by Stephen Fry, took place at the Odeon Leicester Square, followed by a formal dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel.

And the winners are...

ACADEMY FELLOWSHIP
Lord Puttnam

THE MICHAEL BALCON AWARD for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema

Robert (Chuck) Finch and Bill Merrell

FILM
"Brokeback Mountain" - Diana Ossana/James Schamus

THE ALEXANDER KORDA AWARD for the Outstanding British Film of the Year
"Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" - Claire Jennings/David Sproxton/Nick Park/Steve Box/Mark Burton/Bob Baker

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer in their First Feature Film
Joe Wright (Director) - Pride & Prejudice

THE DAVID LEAN AWARD for Achievement in Direction
"Brokeback Mountain" - Ang Lee

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
"Crash'- Paul Haggis/Bobby Moresco

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"Brokeback Mountain" - Larry McMurtry/Diana Ossana

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
"De Batte Mon Coeur S'Est Arrete" ("The Beat That My Heart Skipped") - Pascal Caucheteux/Jacques Audiard

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Philip Seymour Hoffman - "Capote"

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Reese Witherspoon - "Walk the Line"

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jake Gyllenhaal - "Brokeback Mountain"

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Thandie Newton - "Crash"

THE ANTHONY ASQUITH AWARD for Achievement in Film Music
"Memoirs of a Geisha" - John Williams

CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Memoirs of a Geisha" - Dion Beebe

EDITING
"The Constant Gardener" - Claire Simpson

PRODUCTION DESIGN
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" - Stuart Craig

COSTUME DESIGN
"Memoirs of a Geisha" - Colleen Atwood

SOUND
"Walk the Line" - Paul Massey/D M Hemphill/Peter F Kurland/Donald Sylvester

ACHIEVEMENT IN SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
"King Kong" - Joe Letteri/Christian Rivers/Brian Van't Hul/Richard Taylor

MAKE UP & HAIR
"The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" - Howard Berger/Gregory Nicotero/Nikki Gooley

SHORT ANIMATION FILM
"Fallen Art" - Jarek Sawko/Piotr Sikora/Tomek Baginski

SHORT FILM
"Antonio's Breakfast" - Howard Stogdon/Amber Templemore-Finlayson/Daniel Mulloy

THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD
James McAvoy