`Argo` topples ‘Les Miserables’ and ‘Life of Pi’ to win best film at BAFTA

Zeenews Bureau London: Ben Affleck`s Iran-hostage drama `Argo` continued its award season triumph by winning three trophies, including the best picture and director, at the British Academy Film Awards while Ang Lee`s India-set drama `Life of Pi` managed two trophies in technical categories. The BAFTA win has bettered chances for ‘Argo’ at the Oscars to be held on February 24. Inspired by real-life events in 1979 of CIA`s attempt to free six diplomats while posing as a film crew, the film has steadily climbed its way to the top this award season by winning trophies at the Golden Globes, the Producers Guild and the Directors Guild of America awards. `Argo` beat `Les Miserables`, `Life Of Pi`, `Lincoln` and `Zero Dark Thirty` to be named the best film. Affleck, who was famously snubbed at the Oscars in the best directing nominations, was named best director at the BAFTAs and his film also took the editing trophy. He was pitted against Michael Haneke `Amour`, Quentin Tarantino `Django Unchained`, Ang Lee `Life Of Pi` and Kathryn Bigelow `Zero Dark Thirty`. The actor-director dedicated his directing prize for "anyone out there who`s trying to get their second act." The best actor win by Daniel Day-Lewis for his brilliant turn as 16th US President Abraham Lincoln in `Lincoln` was predictable. It was the only prize out of 10 nominations for Steven Spielberg directed movie. Emmanuelle Riva, the 85-year-old French actress, was named best actress for Michael Haneke`s old-age drama `Amour`, which also was named best foreign-language film. `Life of Pi` won trophies in best cinematography and special visual effects categories out of its nine nominations. Tom Hooper directed musical `Les Miserables` won four prizes, including an expected best supporting actress trophy for Anne Hathaway. Australian-German actor Christoph Waltz won the BAFTA for the best supporting actor for the American epic Western film ‘Django Unchained’, while Sir Alan Parker bagged the BAFTA Fellowship. Indian-origin ‘Life of Pi’ star Suraj Sharma lost the EE Rising Star Award to Juno Temple. Tessa Ross won the award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema, while Bart Layton and Dimitri Doganis took home the award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for ‘the Imposter’. The 23rd film James Bond film by Eon Productions, ‘Skyfall’, bagged one award for Outstanding British Film and another for Original Music, which was composed by Thomas Newman. The Swedish-British documentary ‘Searching For Sugar Man’, which details the efforts of two Cape Town fans to find out if the rumored death of American musician Rodriguez was true, and, if not, to discover what had become of him, won the BAFTA for the best documentary. Pixar Animation Studios’ ‘Brave’ was awarded the best animated flick, while ‘The Making Of Longbird’ won the BAFTA for short animation. Quentin Tarantino won the original screenplay award for ‘Django Unchained’ and Jacqueline Durran got the best costume design for ’Anna Karenina’. ‘Swimmer’ won the BAFTA for the best short film while David O Russell bagged the award for best adapted screenplay for ‘Silver Linings Playbook’. Here’s a list of the all the winners at the BAFTA awards: Best Film – Argo Director - Ben Affleck (Argo) Leading Actor - Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln) Leading Actress - Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) Supporting Actress - Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables) BAFTA Fellowship - Sir Alan Parker THE EE Rising Star Award (voted for by the public) - Juno Temple Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema - Tessa Ross Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer - Bart Layton, Dimitri Doganis (The Imposter) Film Not in the English Language - Amour Documentary - Searching For Sugar Man Outstanding British Film - Skyfall Animated Film - Brave Original Screenplay - Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino) Original Music - Skyfall (Thomas Newman) Cinematography - Life Of Pi (Claudio Miranda) Editing - Argo (William Goldenberg) Costume Design - Anna Karenina (Jacqueline Durran) Make-up and Hair - Les Miserables (Lisa Westcott) Sound - Les Miserables Short Animation - The Making Of Longbird Short Film - Swimmer Adapted Screenplay - David O Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) Production Design - Les Miserables (Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson) Special Visual Effects - Life Of Pi (With agency inputs)