'The King's Speech' Dominates 2011 BAFTAs, but 'Social Network' has a Good Showing

‘The King’s Speech’ Dominates 2011 BAFTAs, but ‘Social Network’ has a Good Showing

February 13, 2011

By Brad Brevet

The 2011 Orange British Academy Film Awards were handed out today and to very little surprise The King’s Speech led the way with seven BAFTA Awards as it was also the most nominated film among all nominees with 14 total nominations.

Among its achievements it took home Best Picture, Outstanding British Film, Best Actor for Colin Firth, Best Original screenplay for David Seidler and Best Score for Alexandre Desplat. Where the surprises came were in the supporting wins for both Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter showing The Fighter apparently doesn’t pack as much of a punch across the pond as it does here.

Also, for those of you trying to predict the Oscars and are wondering which direction to go with Best Director, David Fincher took home the award for The Social Network, one of three wins on the night for the film. Aaron Sorkin also won for Adapted Screenplay and Film Editing.

Tom Hooper won the Directors Guild Award for Best Director of 2010, an award that often proves to predict the Best Director winner at the Oscars, but history may be put to the test this year as Fincher continues to look strong. Additionally, Natalie Portman (Black Swan) continued her streak, winning Best Actress.

Below the line, Inception took home three awards while Alice in Wonderland won two. Roger Deakins was also awarded for Best Cinematography for his work on True Grit, which, based on The King’s Speech‘s dominance may actually come as a bit of a surprise to some of you.

I have updated the Oscar Overture with the BAFTA win for The King’s Speech and very shortly we will have a winner from the American Society of Cinematographers. Will Deakins take home two major awards in one day on his way to a projected Best Cinematography win at this year’s Oscars?

I have included the complete list of winners directly below. Have a look and leave your thoughts in the comments. Anything in particular stand out or catch you by surprise?

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