UK film industry triumphs at 88th Academy Awards
Tuesday March 1 2016
Image is everything…
In an evening full of surprises, Warner Bros.’ post apocalyptic Mad Max Fury Road, exec produced by BFC Chairman Iain Smith, led the way with six Oscars. The winning streak began with a category dominated by Brits: the award for Best Costume Design, which saw Sandy Powell nominated for her work in both Carol and Cinderella. However it was fellow UK designer Jenny Beavan who won the award for Mad Max: Fury Road, her second Academy Award to date.
The UK VFX industry once again re-established its world-class status as Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris and Mark Ardington from the UK VFX house Double Negative and Sara Bennett from Soho-based Milk scooped the award for Best Visual Effects for Ex Machina . This was Double Negative’s second win in a row, having claimed the award last year for Interstellar, and it’s third win overall, having won previously for Chris Nolan’s Inception.
Spectrum of UK talent is celebrating in performance, production and music
UK industry veteran Mark Rylance won Best Supporting Actor for his brilliantly understated performance as Russian spy Rudolf Abel in Steven Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies (Amblin Entertainment/Walt Disney Studios) beating out fellow Brit nominees Tom Hardy and Christian Bale, a real testament to UK acting talent.
The UK success further continued in the non-fiction and music categories: Assif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees’ Amy won the award for Best Documentary Feature, and the award for Best Original Song went to Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes for Spectre theme The Writing’s on the Wall ), demonstrating the diversity of creative talent in the UK.
The British Film Commission celebrates UK nominees with ‘GREAT’ LA reception
Ahead of the main event, BFC was on hand to support the GREAT British Film Reception at LA’s London Hotel. The event was co-hosted by last year’s Oscar winner and this year’s Oscar nominee Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl), and Chris O’Conner, British Consul General in LA. The evening was attended by a number of this year’s UK Oscar nominees and winners alongside a wealth of other high-profile UK and international talent including James Corden, Patrick Stewart, Idris Elba and winner of the Best Supporting Actress winner Alicia Vikander.
The event proved a great success, highlighting the accomplishments of the UK film industry which, as demonstrated by the range of this year’s UK nominations and wins, continues to thrive both at home and internationally.