LOS ANGELES, Dec 5, (RTRS): Paddy Considine’s wrenching character study “Tyrannosaur’’ has been named the year’s best feature at the Moet British Independent Film Awards, which took place Sunday night in London.
The film topped a field that included Steve McQueen’s sexually explicit drama “Shame’’ and Tomas Alfredson’s subtle espionage thriller “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.’’ The three films had tied for the most nominations, with seven.
Other movies nominated for the top award were the documentary “Senna’’ and Lynne Ramsay’s “We Need to Talk About Kevin.’’
Ramsay won the award for Best Director.
“Tyrannosaur’’ won three awards, more than any other film. The film’s Olivia Colman was named Best Actress, and actor-turned-director Considine won the award for the best debut by a British director.
The other lead acting award went to Michael Fassbender for “Shame.’’ Vanessa Redgrave won the Supporting Actress award for “Coriolanus,’’ while Michael Smiley was named Best Supporting Actor for “Kill List.’’

The Most Promising Newcomer award went to Tom Cullen for “Weekend.’’
As it has at most awards announced this year, the Iranian film “A Separation’’ was named Best Foreign Independent Film. “Senna’’ won for Best Documentary.
Honorary awards went to actor/directors Kenneth Branagh and Ralph Fiennes and financier Graham Easton.
The awards were spread out among a varied and almost uniformly strong group of nominees, none of whom are considered Oscar favorites but many of whom — including Fassbender, Colman and Redgrave — are at least in the running.
The show took place at Old Billingsgate in London. It was hosted by Irish actor/comedian Chris O’Dowd (“Bridesmaids’’), who appeared to be thoroughly drunk by about the halfway point.
The winners were selected by a jury that was chaired by producer Andrew Eaton (“The Killer Inside Me’’) and included actress Gemma Arterton (“Tamara Drewe’’), actor David Thewlis (“War Horse,’’ “The Lady’’), casting director Lucy Bevan (“An Education’’) and producer Tracey Seaward (“The Queen’’).
Past BIFA winners include Oscar Best Picture champs “The King’s Speech’’ and “Slumdog Millionaire,’’ as well as “Moon,’’ “Control,’’ “This Is England,’’ “The Constant Gardener’’ and “Vera Drake.’’

Winners
Best British Independent Film: “Tyrannosaur’’
Best Director: Lynne Ramsay, “We Need to Talk About Kevin’’
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender, “Shame’’
Best Actress: Olivia Colman, “Tyrannosaur’’
Best Supporting Actor: Michael Smiley, “Kill List’’
Best Supporting Actress: Vanessa Redgrave, “Coriolanus’’
Best Screenplay: Richard Ayoade, “Submarine’’
Best Achievement in Production: “Weekend’’
Best Technical Achievement: Maria Djurkovic (production design), “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’’
Best Foreign Independent Film: “A Separation’’
Best Documentary: “Senna’’
The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director): Paddy Considine, “Tyrannosaur’’
Most Promising Newcomer: Tom Cullen, “Weekend’’
The Raindance Award: “Leaving Baghdad’’
Best British Short: “Chalk’’
Richard Harris Award: Ralph Fiennes
Variety Award: Kenneth Branagh
Special Jury Prize: Graham Easton
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“Nostalgia for the Light,’’ Chilean director Patricio Guzman’s documentary that mixes celestial exploration with families searching for the remains of victims of the Pinochet regime, has been named Best Feature of 2011 by the International Documentary Association.
The award was handed out Friday night during the IDA Awards ceremony at the Directors Guild in West Hollywood.
Typically, given a year in which there are no clear front-runners in the documentary awards race, Guzman’s film did not make the shortlist in the Oscars doc category.
“Nostalgia for the Light’’ is, however, one of the nominees for the top prize at the Cinema Eye Honors, another major award for nonfiction films; in fact, it is the only film nominated in the marquee category at both the IDA Awards and Cinema Eye.
“Enormously moving and wondrous to behold, it looks for a peaceful equilibrium in the universe that its creator’s home country may never find in itself,’’ Andrew O’Hehir wrote at Salon.
Accepting the award with a translator at his side, Guzman left the audience with a phrase that drew a big round of applause: “A country that does not have documentary filmmaking is like a family with no photo album.’’
Other films nominated for the top IDA prize were “Better This World,’’ “How to Die in Oregon,’’ “The Redemption of General Butt Naked’’ and “The Tiniest Place.’’ None made the 15-film Oscar shortlist.
The IDA’s winner for Best Short was “Poster Girl,’’ a Sara Nesson film that was nominated in the Documentary Short category at the last Oscars.
Les Blank was presented with a Career Achievement Award by director Werner Herzog, who said Blank’s work was “always defining America, in a way.’’ (Blank responded with a story about Herzog’s wild-man ways while filming “Fitzcarraldo,’’ which Blank documented in his film “Burden of Dreams.’’)
“Hell and Back Again’’ director Danfung Dennis was given the Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Filmmaker Award.
The IDA Awards were hosted by filmmakers Tiffany Schlain, Josh Fox and the IDA’s president of the board, Eddie Schmidt. The show was faster-paced and more streamlined than in previous years, but with the same ramshackle, let’s-put-on-a-show vibe typical of its informal and untelevised proceedings.
In other awards previously announced by the IDA, “Guanape Sur’’ won the David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award, “Position Among the Stars’’ was given the Humanitas Documentary Award, “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth’’ won the ABC News Videosource Award, and “The Last Mountain’’ took home the Pare Lorentz Award.
Winners
Best Feature: “Nostalgia for the Light,’’ Patricio Guzman
Best Short: “Poster Girl,’’ Sara Nesson
Best Limited Series: “Boomtown,’’ Rachel Libert
Best Continuing Series: “POV,’’ Simon Kilmurry
Career Achievement Award: Les Blank
Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Filmmaker Award: Danfung Dennis
David Wolper Student Documentary Award: “Guanape Sur,’’ Janos Richter
Humanitas Documentary Award: “Position Among the Stars’’ (“Stand Van de Sterren’’), Leonard Retel Helmrich
ABC News Videosource Award: “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth,’’ Chad Freidrichs
Papre Lorentz Award: “The Last Mountain,’’ Bill Haney
Creative Recognition Awards:
Best Cinematography: Massimo D’Anolfi, “Il Castello’’
Best Editing: Chris King and Gregers Sall, “Senna’’
Best Music: Paul Brill, “Better This World’’
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Lars von Trier’s apocalyptic drama “Melancholia’’ walked away with the top award, European Film 2011, at the 24th European Film Awards in Berlin Saturday.
The flm also won for Best Cinematographer (Manuel Alberto Claro) and Best Production Designer (Jette Lehmann). It topped a field of nominees that included the 2010 Oscar Best Picture winner, “The King’s Speech,’’ which was released in 2011 in Europe.
The latter film’s star, Oscar winner Colin Firth, did win the award for Best European Actor. Tilda Swinton, who lost the Cannes Film Festival best actress award to “Melancholia’’ star Kirsten Dunst, won for Best European Actress for her role in “We Need to Talk About Kevin.’’
“King’s Speech’’ also won Best Editor and the People’s Choice Award. Danish director Susanne Bier, who was seemingly slammed by von Trier at the same inflammatory Cannes press conference that caused him to be named persona non grata for his jokes about Nazis, beat von Trier to win Best Director for “In a Better World.’’
“The Artist,’’ considered by many a top candidate for this year’s Best Picture Oscar, won a single award, Best Composer, for Ludovic Bource.
Other winners who figure in this year’s Oscar race included Wim Wenders’ dance documentary “Pina,’’ which is shortlisted in the Oscar doc category and is Germany’s entry in the foreign-language race; and the animated film “Chico & Rita,’’ which is in the running in the Oscar animated-feature category.
The awards were voted on by more than 2,500 members of the European Film Academy.
“Melancholia’’ had entered the ceremony with eight nominations, twice as many as any other film.
Roman Polanski’s “The Ghost Writer’’ won the award last year; previous winners included Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon,’’ Cristian Mungiu’s “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,’’ Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s “The Lives of Others’’ and Pedro Almovodar’s “Talk to Her.’’

Winners
European Film 2011: “Melancholia,’’ Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany
Written & directed by: Lars von Trier
Produced by: Meta Louise Foldager & Louise Vesth
European Director 2011: Susanne Bier for “Haevnen’’ (“In a Better World’’)
European Actress 2011: Tilda Swinton in “We Need to Talk About Kevin’’
European Actor 2011: Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech’’
European Screenwriter 2011: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne for “Le Gamin au Velo’’ (“The Kid with a Bike’’)
Carlo di Palma European Cinematographer Award 2011: Manuel Alberto Claro for “Melancholia’’
European Editor 2011: Tariq Anwar for “The King’s Speech’’
European Production Designer 2011: Jette Lehmann for “Melancholia’’
European Composer 2011: Ludovic Bource for “The Artist’’
European Discovery 2011: “Adem’’ (“Oxygen’’) by Hans Van Nuffel, Belgium/theNetherlands
European Film Academy Documentary 2011 – Pix Arte: “Pina,’’ by Wim Wenders, Germany
European Film Academy Animated Feature Film 2011: “Chico & Rita’’ by Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal & Fernando Trueba
European Film Academy Short Film 2011: “The Wholly Family’’ by Terry Gilliam, Italy
European Co-production Award 2011 – Prix Eurimages: Mariela Besuievsky, Spain
European Achievement in World Cinema 2011: Mads Mikkelsen, Denmark
European Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award: Stephen Frears, UK
European Film Academy Special Honorary Award: Michel Piccoli, France
The People’s Choice Award 2011: “The King’s Speech’’ by Tom Hooper, UK