Fish Tank makes splash at London Critics Circle Awards

Andrea Arnold's drama nets four awards.

by Amber Wilkinson

Gritty coming-of-age tale Fish Tank was the big winner at the 30th annual London Film Critics' Circle Awards, scooping four awards including British film of the year.

Andrea Arnold was named director of the year for the film, which examines how life changes for a teenager after her mum brings home an enigmatic new boyfriend, while newcomer Katie Jarvis was named the NSPCC best young performer for her role as troubled teen Mia and Michael Fassbender - who plays the boyfriend - picked up the British actor in a supporting role gong.

In The Loop scribes Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Toni Roche shared the screenwriting award for the political satire, while Duncan Jones was named breakthrough British filmmaker for his sci-fi film Moon.

Colin Firth won the best British actor award for his role in A Single Man, while Carey Mulligan was honoured with the best British actress gong for her part in An Education. Mo'Nique, who has a supporting role as an abusive mother in the Oscar-tipped Precious, was named actress of the year.

For the first time in the awards history, the film of the year award went to a foreign language film - hard-hitting French Prison drama A Prophet. Swedish horror movie Let The Right One, meanwhile was named best foreign language film, while Kathryn Bigelow continued her awards run, picking up the prize for director of the year for her work on The Hurt Locker.

Share this with others on...
News

Stories still unspoken Interview with Thomas Pollack, Andrew McNeill and Katarina Kokenyova about Rozkvet

Where crows are watching JP Davidson and Craig Russell on nature, belief, UK horror and The Cull

Truth and lies Sean Hogan on true crime documentaries, unknowable characters and The Dark Gets In

A walking contradiction Sinéad O'Shea on James 'Fergie' Chambers Jr and All About The Money

Unconventional families Milcho Manchevski on being blacklisted and making Sister Brother Manhole Cover

Expecting the unexpected Jordan Mark Windsor and Sean Wallace on Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant

More news and features

We're bringing you all the latest news and reviews from the Belfast Film Festival, the Cheltenham International Film Festival and the Leeds International Film Festival.



We're looking forward to the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, the French Film Festival and DOC NYC.



We've recently brought you coverage of Halloween Frightfest, the Scottish Queer International Film Festival, Newfest, the London Film Festival, the New York Film Festival, Grimmfest and Beyond Fest.



Read our full for more.


Visit our festivals section.

Interact

Don't forget that you can follow us on YouTube for trailers of festival films and more. You can also find us on Mastodon, Instagram and Bluesky.


It's a busy time for festivals and here's the latest:


Sundance Announces Legacy line-up of archive films


Frightfest Newcastle event announced for May 2027


French Film Festival UK Programme announced


Tallinn Black Nights Documentary line-up and Special Screenings announced


London Winners announced