BAFTA NAMES MARION COTILLARD BEST ACTRESS!

Hot off the presses. From BAFTA Press Release:

Marion Cotillard received the BAFTA for Leading Actress for La Vie en Rose for her portrayal of Edith Piaf. The film also won awards for Music, Make Up & Hair and Costume Design, presented posthumously to designer Marit Allen.

Source.

Visit Getty Images for some pictures of Marion (with dreamboat Javi Bardem -- I assume she presented the Supporting Actor award) at the BAFTA's tonight.

Remember who Marion was going up against:

CATE BLANCHETT – Elizabeth: The Golden Age
JULIE CHRISTIE – Away From Her
MARION COTILLARD – La Vie en Rose
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY – Atonement
ELLEN PAGE – Juno

This was formidable competition. A big congratulations to Mlle. Cotillard for a well-deserved win!

A bit of trivia...Sophia Loren also won the BAFTA in 1961 for "Two Women" but for "Best Foreign Actress." Marion is the first actress to win a BAFTA Best Actress award for a non-English language performance since Stéphane Audran in The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie in 1974 (before I was born...that's just wrong!).

Spoiler alert regarding the other awards: Please don't read if you want to watch the Ceremony tonight -

Here's the full BAFTA Press Release:

Atonement was named Best Film at tonight’s Orange British Academy Film Awards, held at London’s Royal Opera House.

La Vie en Rose received the highest number of wins with 4 BAFTAs. No Country for Old Men won 3 BAFTAs, with Atonement and The Bourne Ultimatum receiving 2 BAFTAs each.
Marion Cotillard received the BAFTA for Leading Actress for La Vie en Rose for her portrayal of Edith Piaf. The film also won awards for Music, Make Up & Hair and Costume Design, presented posthumously to designer Marit Allen.

Joel and Ethan Coen won the Director award for No Country for Old Men and Javier Bardem was named Supporting Actor for his performance. The film also received the Cinematography BAFTA.

In addition to winning the Best Film BAFTA, Atonement also won the Production Design award. The Bourne Ultimatum won the awards for Sound and Editing.

Anthony Hopkins was awarded the Academy Fellowship, the highest accolade bestowed by BAFTA, in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film.

Daniel Day Lewis won Leading Actor for his performance as oil baron Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood. The Supporting Actress award was presented to Tilda Swinton for her role in Michael Clayton.

This is England was named Best British Film, one of 6 award categories decided by BAFTA jury. The Film Not in the English Language award was won by The Lives of Others.
The Original Screenplay BAFTA was presented to Diablo Cody for Juno and the Adapted Screenplay award went to Ronald Harwood for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
The award for Animated Film was won by Ratatouille. The Special Visual Effects BAFTA was presented to The Golden Compass.

Writer Matt Greenhalgh won The Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer for their First Feature Film for Control.

The Pearce Sisters won the Short Animation award and the Short Film award was presented to Dog Altogether.

Property Master Barry Wilkinson was presented with the award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. This award is given in the Gift of the Academy and its primary purpose is to honour the talents of individuals from the film industry whose achievements are not usually recognised in other awards categories. Barry’s credits include Indiana Jones, Titanic, Four Weddings and a Funeral, The Fifth Element, and the Harry Potter films.

The Orange Rising Star Award was presented to Shia LaBeouf, star of Transformers. This award recognises a young international actor or actress who has demonstrated exceptional talent and has begun to be recognised as a film star in the making. This award, now in its third year, was created in honour of Mary Selway, the highly respected casting director, who died in 2004.

The winner of 60 Seconds of Fame, BAFTA and Orange’s short film initiative, was announced earlier this afternoon in front of a big screen in Covent Garden Piazza. Hundreds of filmmakers from the 15 BBC Nations and Regions around the UK entered 60-second short films, which were then voted on by regional BAFTA panels. Up to five films in each region were put to a public vote and over 24,000 votes were cast. The winning film from each region was viewed by a BAFTA jury who decided the overall winner. The winning film, United (Polar Showtime Dancers) was created by Cheryl Marshall from the East Midlands.

The Orange British Academy Film Awards were hosted by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC ONE at 21:00. The Awards were sponsored by Orange for the 11th year running and the awards broadcast was produced by Whizz Kid Productions.

All I can say is: ¡Viva Inglaterra!