Here be the winners (Red Carpet attire/commentary can be viewed here). The main winner of the night was The Hurt Locker, winning six of the eight awards it was nominated for. Avatar, meanwhile, only won two of the eight awards it was also nominated for (it bagged Production Design and Special Visual Effects - the latter largely thanks to Dublin born Richard Baneham). A bitter sweet night for James Cameron, I'm sure, looking at one of his ex-wives - Kathryn Bigalow - sweeping the board. After winning the IFTA for Best Actress the night before, Saoirse Ronan lost out to Carey Mulligan - who (after being nominated for what seemed like every second award) took home the Best Actress gong for her turn in An Education. Nicholas Hoult was beaten by a typically sullen but refreshingly overwhelmed Kristen Stewart for the Orange Rising Star Award,. while Robert Pattinson simpered on from the audience. There is indeed one birth canal I suspect he's not "allergic" to.
Acceptance speech of the night went to Colin Firth, who deservedly and graciously strolled off with the Best Actor Award: "What (director) Tom Ford doesn't know is that I had the e-mail in my outbox telling him I couldn't possibly do this, and I was about to press send when a man came to fix my fridge. So I would like to thanks the fridge man... Point being, I don't know what's good for me, so Id like to thank the fridge guy... Don't press send until you've had your fridge repaired." As for Kate Winslet, who informed Firth of his win; I could pass comment on her flat forehead here, but we'll save that for the red carpet piece.
A close second to claim the unofficial Best Acceptance Speech prize was the French lady translating for the director of A Prophet (a film which won the laboriously titled Film Not in The English Language gong). After he excitedly tootled on in his native tongue for a spell, she simply bent over the mic to slur: "He says you're all very well dreeeeeeeessssssed."
And who could forget Mickey Rourke and his Croyden Faclift. Ahhhh Mickey, always good for a hoot in your Hush Puppies. He was wheeled out to present the Best Actress Award after host Ross (who was, let's be honest, in 'fwying fowm') said: "Here is the recpient of last year's Best Actor award and he clearly hasn't been home since." To back up Jonathan's point nicely, Mickey kicked off his turn at the mic by manically squinting at the autocue and exclaiming: "F*** I can't see that far away... OK, do you want this bare back or with a rain jacket?" He then proceeded to read with one eye shut, giggling at the autocue operator to "slow down!" before announcing the Best Actress award in fact went to George Clooney.
The unofficial prize for Most Emotional Acceptance Speech went to the winner of the night's first award - Outstanding Debut by a Writer, Director or Producer. It went to Ducan Jones (AKA Zowie Bowie) who directed Moon. He tearfully said "I didn't realise how much this meant to me until now... I finally know what I want to do." You know you've nailed an emotional acceptance speech when a member of the camera crew is ordered to get a close up of Rupert Everett's face effectively conveying a feeling. That must be a staggering realisation for someone who had the burden of having a living legend as a parent. It must've been also a jarring moment for his fellow nominee Sam Taylor Wood (nominated for directing Nowhere Boy) who, I suspect, isn't used to losing.
Those who also managed to instil a fresh sprung tear in many an audience member's eye was Christoph Waltz, who took home Best Supporting Actor (again), he made Quentin Tarantino get a moist face by basically telling him he's the centre of the universe, while nearly everyone felt "done in" when the great Vanessa Redgrave took to the stage to accept her Fellowship. She dedicated her it to the late opera singer Maria Callas. She gracefully didn't make reference to her late daughter, Natasha, who died unexpectedly almost a year ago.
To wrap up our unnoficial Unnoficial Award Ceremony: Most Stilted Delivery of Pre-Award-Handing-Over Patter goes to Claire Danes. It was only for Best Costume, Claire, no need to let nerves turn you into an android. There's plenty of them already. This leads on to the final one: Most Futuristic Looking Mariah Carey Who Almost Had JRM's EYE Out, Thus Causing Him Good Cause To Robot His Way Out of The Vicinity. Well done to you, Rebecca Hall.
Best film
The Hurt Locker
Leading actor
Colin Firth (A Single Man)
Leading actress
Carey Mulligan (An Education)
Supporting actor
Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)
Supporting actress
Mo'Nique (Precious)
Outstanding British film
Fish Tank
Outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer
Duncan Jones (director - Moon)
Director
Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
Original Screenplay
The Hurt Locker (Mark Boal)
Adapted Screenplay
Up in the Air (Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner)
Film not in the English language
A Prophet
Animated film
Up
Music
Up (Michael Giacchino)
Cinematography
The Hurt Locker
Editing
The Hurt Locker
Production design
Avatar
Costume design
The Young Victoria
Sound
The Hurt Locker
Special visual effects
Avatar
Makeup & hair
The Young Victoria
Short animation
Mother of Many
Short film
I Do Air
The Orange Rising Star Award (voted for by the public)
Kristen Stewart
Outstanding British contribution to cinema
Joe Dunton
The BAFTA Fellowship
Vanessa Redgrave.