'Vera Drake' Wins Again

As award season really hots up, Mike Leigh's movie is victorious in both LA and Barcelona.

Dec 13 2004

Imelda Staunton has won two more awards for her stunning performance in Mike Leigh's 'Vera Drake'.

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association named her best actress, while at the European Film Awards, held in Barcelona over the weekend, she also won the award for best European actress.

Having been victorious at the British Independent Film Awards two weeks ago, and with several other award ceremonies to follow in the upcoming months, Staunton's run of wins shows no sign of abating.

Elsewhere at the European awards, Fatih Akin's 'Head On', a German drama about a mixed race romance, was named best film of the year.

The ceremony, which was this year presided over by EFA President Wim Wenders, also saw Spanish cinema coming out triumphant, with Javier Bardem winning the best actor award for his role as a paraplegic sailor fighting for his right to die through euthanasia in 'The Sea Inside', and Alejandro Amenebar winning the best director award for the same film.

Recent Time Out film of the week 'Look at Me' won best screenwriter awards for Agnes Jaoui and Jean-Pierre Bacri, while Wong Kar-wai's long anticipated '2046' took home the non-European film award.

But Imelda Satunton remained the weekend's big winner, with the double victory ensuring that she now looks like a serious contender for this year's best actress award at the Oscars.