BAFTA Winners 2012

Well, the BAFTAs took place on Sunday, the highlight of any British film fan's year.

I live-tweeted for the whole two-hour show, which you can read here.

And just in case you haven't heard, the winners are below. In short, The Artist ruled the night.

BEST FILM: The Artist - both a masterpiece and a homage. Read my five-star review here.

DIRECTOR: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist - he directed the Best Film. Of course he was going to win.

LEADING ACTOR: Jean Dujardin, The Artist: a pleasant surprise. Everyone expected this to go to Clooney or Fassbender.

LEADING ACTRESS: Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady: a lazy choice. Streep was good but Swinton, Williams and Bejo were far more deserving for much less Oscar-baiting performances. No one will be watching The Iron Lady twelve months from now. Read my review here to find out why.

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Christopher Plummer, Beginners: predictable but he hardly faced stiff competition.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Octavia Spencer, The Help: Spencer was playing a character fighting racism and adversity. Of course she won.

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - a very British film and a predictable win.

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER: Tyrannosaur - a tough category but well-deserved. And they kind of had to give them something considering the Twitter backlash when Olivia Coleman didn't even get a nomination for her performance in this film.

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE: The Skin I Live In - a haunting, psychological film. Essentially Saw with plastic surgery.

DOCUMENTARY: Senna - haven't seen it. Need to see it.

ANIMATED FILM: Rango - I'm amazed the very British Aardman Animations didn't win this one for Arthur Christmas.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist - Woody Allen got the Globe but not the BAFTA. It was a pleasure to see Hazanavicius take home this BAFTA for a silent movie. After all, words do not make a screenplay.

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - the film may be poorly-paced and complicated but Straughan did a sterling job to cram all that plot into two hours.

ORIGINAL MUSIC: The Artist, Ludovic Bource - naturally. The score was the third lead character.

CINEMATOGRAPHY: The Artist, Guillaume Schiffman - the look was the fourth lead character.

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS: Harry Potter VIII - it had to win at least one BAFTA.

THE ORANGE WEDNESDAYS RISING STAR AWARD: Adam Deacon - honestly thought the fanboys would vote for one of the Thor actors or the girls would crown O'Dowd's lovable Irish mug. Fair play to Deacon.