Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker were crowned king and queen at the Baftas tonight.
Mirren - who plays the title role in The Queen - and Whitaker, who stars as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland, walked off with the best actress and actor gongs at the star-studded ceremony in London.
The award for Mirren comes in the wake of her Golden Globe and win and secures her place as favourite to take the Oscar in a few weeks.
Accepting it the tearfully dedicated it to Hogfather star Ian Richardson, who died earlier this week, aged 72.
She said: "When I started out as an actress, I had the good fortune to work with an actor on my first job who was so generous he became a mentor and a supporter.
"He believed in me and therefore in believed in myself. It's Ian Richardson. This is for Ian. I wouldn't be here it it wasn't for him."
Nominated in 10 categories, The Queen - which reimagines the events following Princess Diana's death - also beat off strong competition from The Last King Of Scotland, Martin Scorcese's The Departed, indie comedy Little Miss Sunshine and ensemble drama Babel, to win best film.
The Last King Of Scotland scooped an additional two awards - for outstanding British film and best adapted screenplay.
Spanish Civil War fantasy Pan's Labyrinth also walked off with three awards, for costume design, make up and hair, and best film not in the English language.
Other winners included Children Of Men for cinematography, and production design and Little Miss Sunshine, which won best original screenplay for Michael Arndt and saw Alan Arkin pick up the award for best supporting actor for his role as a heroin-snorting grandad.
Also scooping awards were director Andrea Arnold (for Red Road), Jennifer Hudson (best supporting actress for Dreamgirls), Paul Greengrass (David Lean achievement in directing for United 93) and Happy Feet (animated film).
For a full list of nominees and winners read our original news story.
