Meryl Streep bags second BAFTA

Meryl Streep has done it again. The two time Oscar winner picked up her second BAFTA for her portrayal of British Prime Minister Mrs. Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady”.

Streep, has a staggering 16 Oscar nominations to her name won the BAFTA in the Best Actress category. In fact, the popular joke in the industry is that if Meryl Streep has not got an Oscar nomination, probably she did not make a movie that year. Previously, she had the won the award in 1982 for the “French Lieutenant's Woman”. "The Iron Lady" takes a look at Thatcher's life with a focus on the price she paid for power.

However, it was the black and white “The Artist” that literally swept up the BAFTA this year. It picked up the Best Film, Best Director (Michel Hazanavicius), Best Actor ( Jean Dujardin), Bet Original Screenplay (Michel Hazanavicius), Best Cinematography ( Guillaume Schiffman) and Best Costume Design (Mark Bridges).

Set in 1927, "The Artist" is about a silent movie star George Valentin who fears whether the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion.

In other categories, Christopher Plummer, 82, won the best supporting actor award for his performance in "Beginners", a romantic comedy-drama written and directed by Mike Mills, becoming the oldest person to win a BAFTA.

Octavia Spencer bagged the best supporting actress trophy for her role in "The Help", a big screen adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's novel of the same name. It tells the story of a young white woman and her relationship with her two black maids.

Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan won the best screenplay (Adapted) award for their work in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", an Anglo-French espionage film, which is based on the 1974 novel of the same name by John le Carre. The film, which is directed by Tomas Alfredson, also won an award for its adapted screenplay and was also named the outstanding British film.

Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiav won the best sound and production design award for the 3D adventure drama "Hugo", directed by Martin Scorsese.

Scorsese was also honoured with BAFTA's Academy Fellowship, an honorary award given for "outstanding and exceptional contribution to film".

Pedro Almodovar's "The Skin I Live In" won the best film not in the English language trophy and pipped the Iranian film "A Separation".

Auto-racing documentary "Senna" won BAFTA for the best editing and it also bagged the best documentary award.

Gore Verbinski's "Rango" was named the top animated feature.

"A Morning Stroll" walked away with the best short animation movie, while "Pitch Black Heist" won the best short film trophy.