Slumdog Millionaire tops British Independent Film Awards

A love poem set in India has grabbed the top prizes at the British Independent Film Awards and has officially set itself up as a big contender for year-end kudos on this side of the Atlantic. Slumdog Millionaire collected the Most Promising Newcomer award (Dev Patel), Best Film and Best Director (Boyle) beating out a film featuring a quirky pairing in a picturesque city of Belgium (In Bruges) and one of my top 5 films that I’ve seen this year in Steve McQueen’s prison drama. Hunger did capture three awards in categories that were sure wins in the Best Debut Director, Cinematography and Fassbender’s perf garnered him the Best Actor win. Surprises cam in the shape of the Best Female performance for Vera Farmiga’s take in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and I’m extremely pleased to see Eddie Marsan walked away with the Best Supporting actor award for his role as a driving instructor with some emotional ineptitudes in the Mike Leigh dramedy.

Here is the list of winners:…

Best British Independent Film
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Director
Danny Boyle – “Slumdog Millionaire”

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)
Steve McQueen – “Hunger”

Best Screenplay
Martin McDonagh – “In Bruges”

Best Actress
Vera Farmiga – “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas”

Best Actor
Michael Fassbender – “Hunger”

Best Supporting Actress
Alexis Zegerman – “Happy-Go-Lucky”

Best Supporting Actor
Eddie Marsan – “Happy-Go-Lucky”

Most Promising Newcomer
Dev Patel – “Slumdog Millionaire”

Best Achievement in Production
The Escapist
 
Raindance Award
Zebra Crossings

Best Technical Achievement
Cinematography – Sean Bobbitt – “Hunger”

Best Documentary
Man on Wire

Best British Short
Soft

Best Foreign Film
Waltz with Bashir

The Richard Harris Award (for Outstanding Contribution to British Film)
David Thewlis

The Special Jury Prize
Joe Dunton (cameras)