The British Academy of Film and Television Arts held its annual BAFTA award ceremony at the Royal Opera House in London on Sunday night, bestowing its top prize to the film 12 Years a Slave.
While accepting the award for best film, British director Steve McQueen thanked actress Lupita Nyong'o, saying, "a star is born." He also praised actor Michael Fassbender for his "genius" and the film's star, Chiwetel Ejiofor, for his "humanity."

British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor poses with the award for a leading actor for his work on the film '12 Years a Slave.'
Image: CARL COURT/AFP/Getty Images
The harrowing drama, based on the true story of Solomon Northup and based on the book of the same title, follows a free man kidnapped and sold into slavery in the antebellum South. Ejiofor went home with the best actor award, beating a host of stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, nominated for his role in Martin Scorcese's debauched The Wolf of Wall Street, and Christian Bale (who shape-shifted into a balding, overweight con-artist in American Hustle). 12 Years a Slave was produced in part by Brad Pitt, who also appeared in a supporting role.
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In his acceptance speech, Ejiofor said the award belonged to McQueen. “It’s yours. I’m going to keep it ... but it is yours,” he said, to laughter from the audience. McQueen, however, lost the best director award to Alfonso Cuarón, for the thriller Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.
Gravity, set in space, was widely praised for the innovative techniques its filmmakers invented to simulate weightlessness and give the appearance of the action taking place hundreds of miles above the earth's surface. The film also took home the awards for cinematography, music, sound, outstanding British film and special visual effects, beating the effects-laden The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
Though she was not in attendance, Jennifer Lawrence won the best supporting actress award for her role in the David O. Russell-helmed dramatization of the 1970s Abscam scandal, American Hustle. Lawrence beat Nyong'o, a Yale Drama School graduate who was nominated for her role as the slave Patsey in 12 Years a Slave, her film debut.

Oscar winner Cate Blanchett was awarded the best actress prize for her role as a former socialite suffering from a mental breakdown in director Woody Allen's melancholy Blue Jasmine. The actress won in a race crowded with powerhouses: Dame Judi Dench, Emma Thompson, Amy Adams, and Ms. Bullock were also nominated.
Blanchett dedicated the award to the "monumental talent" of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, who, she said, had been a "profound touchstone for me."

Australian actress Cate Blanchett poses with the award for a leading actress for her work on the film 'Blue Jasmine.'
Image: CARL COURT/AFP/Getty Images
Captain Phillips, which starred Tom Hanks in the eponymous role, was not without a win — newcomer Barkhad Abdi, the Somali-born actor who played a pirate captain, snagged the best supporting actor statue. According to the Guardian, he thanked director Paul Greengrass "for believing in me before I believed in myself." Abdi won the award despite stiff, star-powered competition from Bradley Cooper, Matt Damon, and Michael Fassbender.

Somali-American actor Barkhad Abdi poses with the award for a supporting actor for his work on the film 'Captain Phillips' with the presenter, British actress Emma Thompson.
Image: CARL COURT/AFP/Getty Images
Being British, the evening was not without a flourish of royalty: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, was present (sans Kate), to present the British Academy Fellowship award to Dame Helen Mirren, the industry's highest honor. Mirren appeared onscreen as the Duke's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 2006's The Queen.

The full list of winners and nominees is available here.