On Sunday February 16 2014, we had the 67th anniversary of the BAFTAS held at the Royal Opera House. The evening was hosted by the ever dependable Stephen Fry and the venue was awash with A-list celebrities from the world of movies.

It was no surprise that the ceremony was dominated by the British made space adventure ‘Gravity’, which won 6 awards.
Outstanding British film
Best Director (Alfonso Cuarón)
Original music
Cinematography
Sound
Special Visual effects

Although nominated for Best Actress, Sandra Bullock did not win the top award.

BEST FILM
12 Years a Slave (WINNER)
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Philomena

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
Gravity (WINNER)
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Philomena
Rush
Saving Mr Banks
The Selfish Giant

DIRECTOR
Gravity - Alfonso Cuarón (WINNER)
12 Years A Slave - Steve McQueen
American Hustle - David O. Russell
Captain Phillips - Paul Greengrass
The Wolf Of Wall Street - Martin Scorsese

LEADING ACTOR
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years A Slave (WINNER)
Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Christian Bale - American Hustle
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf Of Wall Street
Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips

LEADING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine (WINNER)
Amy Adams - American Hustle
Emma Thompson - Saving Mr. Banks
Judi Dench - Philomena
Sandra Bullock – Gravity

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips (WINNER)
Bradley Cooper - American Hustle
Daniel Brühl - Rush
Matt Damon - Behind The Candelabra
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years A Slave

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle (WINNER)
Julia Roberts - August: Osage County
Lupita Nyong’o - 12 Years A Slave
Oprah Winfrey - The Butler
Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine

On a personal note I think that ‘2 Years A Slave’ was the right choice for Best Film and Chiwetel Ejiofor thoroughly deserved the Best Actor nod. I think that ‘Gravity’ was a thrilling film to watch and as mentioned in my review “If ever there was a film to be made in 3D, this was it”. However, I would have chosen ‘Rush’ over ‘Gravity’ for Outstanding British Film. Rush was a terrific ensemble piece and for an Independent movie it was the sleeper of 2013. Also ‘Saving Mr Banks’ seemed to be another film that came from nowhere and was loved by audiences across the globe.

We will have to wait and see how the 86th Academy Awards…or Oscars as we call them, compares to the above categories. The Oscars will be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres on 2nd March.