The Hurt Locker reigns at the BAFTAs

Tonight, the 2010 Orange BAFTA Awards took place in London .

Attended by everybody from Quentin Tarantino and James Cameron to Robert Pattinson, Vera Farmiga and Prince William (who has taken over from Richard Attenborough as President of the BAFTA), it was a truly star-studded event.

But the question on everybody’s lips was always going to be “ Hurt Locker or Avatar ?”

Well, The Hurt Locker turned out to be the over-riding champion of the evening, bagging six of the golden statuettes – including the much-coveted Best Director and Best Picture awards.

The war drama also took home awards for Cinematography, Editing, Sound and Original Screenplay. James Cameron didn’t seem too bothered though, smiling and clapping as the Best Picture award was given to The Hurt Locker instead of his Avatar .

That said, the director had reason to smile: Avatar beat District 9 to the Best Special Visual Effects award, and also snatched the prize for Best Production Design.

Meanwhile, Up nabbed the Animated Film gong, and Colin Firth triumphed by landing the Best Leading Actor prize for A Single Man (well-deserved).

Star-on-the-rise Carey Mulligan swooped in to scoop the Best Leading Actress award from Meryl Streep, Audrey Tautou, Gabourey Sidibe and Saoirse Ronan for An Education . Mickey Rourke presented her with the award. She looked happier than this:

Director Andrea Arnold also had cause to celebrate as Fish Tank was awarded the Outstanding British Film prize. And Moon director Duncan Jones gave an emotional speech as he received the award for Outstanding Debut By A British Writer, Director Or Producer.

Finally, in a repeat of the Golden Globes, Christoph Waltz again emerged victorious with the Best Supporting Actor award for his turn in Inglourious Basterds , while Mo’Nique pocketed another Best Supporting Actress prize for Precious , which Lee Daniels accepted on her behalf. Kristen Stewart was awarded the Orange Rising Star Award.

All in all, it was a great night for British film. And considering the wealth of talent on display in the British film industry this year, it’s all praise well-deserved. Here's a full list of the winners:

BEST FILM
The Hurt Locker

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM
Fish Tank

OUTSTANDING DEBUT FROM A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER
Duncan Jones

DIRECTOR
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner - Up In The Air

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
A Prophet

ANIMATED FILM
Up

LEADING ACTOR
Colin Firth - A Single Man

LEADING ACTRESS
Carey Mulligan - An Education

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Mo'Nique - Precious

MUSIC
Michael Giacchino - Up

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Barry Ackroyd - The Hurt Locker

EDITING
Bob Murawski, Chris Innis - The Hurt Locker

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg, Kim Sinclair - Avatar

COSTUME DESIGN
Sandy Powell - Young Victoria

SOUND
Ray Beckett, Paul N. J. Ottosson, Craig Stauffer - The Hurt Locker

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones - Avatar

MAKE-UP AND HAIR
Jenny Shircore - Young Victoria

SHORT ANIMATION
Mother Of Many

SHORT FILM
I Do Air

ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD
Kristen Stewart

What does this mean for the Oscars? Guess we’ll find out in just under two weeks. Fingers crossed for Great Britain.