The Artist was the big winner at the London Film Critics' Circle awards, taking Best Film, Best Director (for Michael Hazanavicius) and Best Actor (for Jean Dujardin). We Need To Talk About Kevin which had been hotly tipped for awards success but had thus far to make good on its hopes won Best British Film.
Michael Fassbender took the Best British Actor prize for not one but two leading roles, in Shame and A Dangerous Method, boosting his hopes of an Oscar, though Dujardin will be hard to beat. Best British Actress went to Olivia Colman in the same style, for Tyrannosaur and for her supporting role as Carol Thatcher in The Iron Lady, while the main Best Actress award was a tie between Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher and Anna Paquin in Margaret. The award will be shared.
Kenneth Branagh (My Week With Marilyn) and Sareh Bayat (A Separation) won in the supporting categories and Craig Roberts took Young Performer of the Year for his comic turn in the hugely popular Submarine.
Foreign Language Film of the Year went to Iranian drama A Separation, which has won at every major awards ceremony so far this year, an outstanding achievement. It also won in the Best Screenplay category. Senna was voted Best Documentary and Andrew Haigh won the Breakthrough British Filmmaker award for Weekend, while Nicholas Roeg won the Dilys Powell award for his lifetime contribution to British film
