Mirren Adds Bafta To Awards Haul
Dame Helen Mirren has added the best actress Bafta to her long list of awards for The Queen, which was also named best film at the London ceremony.
The Last King of Scotland won three honours, including best British film and best actor for Forest Whitaker's portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.
British film-maker Paul Greengrass was named best director for United 93.
Low-budget comedy Little Miss Sunshine took awards for original screenplay and Alan Arkin's supporting performance.
Dame Helen's numerous awards for The Queen include the best actress Golden Globe and have made her favourite to win the Oscar in two weeks' time.
The film, in which she plays Queen Elizabeth II during the days after Princess Diana's death, led the Baftas field with 10 nominations.
"I read a lot about the Queen as a young girl and really, in a way, although I'm playing her at the age of 70, I play the young girl in her," said the actress on her way into the event at the Royal Opera House.
Dame Judi Dench, nominated in the same category for Notes on a Scandal, had said: "There's no chance of me winning this evening - I'm a betting woman so I'll put money on Helen."
The latest James Bond film, Casino Royale, returned just one award from nine nominations - for best sound.
Daniel Craig, the sixth actor to play 007 in an official Bond film, had been nominated for the best actor Bafta.
"Win or lose, it's going to be a good night," he said ahead of the event.
Film critic Mark Kermode said that securing a nomination in the role had been a significant achievement.
"It is one of those roles that is generally thought of as not an actorly pursuit," he said. "What Daniel Craig has done is demonstrate that you can play that role in a really thespian manner."
French actress Eva Green, who played love interest Vesper Lynd in Casino Royale, won the Orange rising star award voted for by the British public.
The Spanish-language dark fairytale Pan's Labyrinth won three Baftas including the award for best foreign language film.
Former US reality TV show contestant Jennifer Hudson added the best supporting actress prize to her considerable collection for her performance in the musical Dreamgirls.
Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock's script for The Last King of Scotland won the best adapted screenplay honour.
The award for special achievement by a British director in their first feature film went to Andrea Arnold for the Glasgow-set drama Red Road.
The best animated feature film Bafta was awarded to Happy Feet.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts was celebrating its 60th anniversary, after handing out its first prize for achievement in film in 1947.
The awards have grown in prominence since 2001, when the ceremony was rescheduled to take place before the Oscars.
Presenter Jonathan Ross hosted the event for the first time, after a six-year stint by the actor and writer Stephen Fry.
