Silent movie The Artist dominated the Baftas in London on Sunday night, picking up seven awards including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor for its star Jean Dujardin.

The Artist now looks the favourite to sweep the board at the Oscars ceremony on 26th February.

Elsewhere Meryl Streep won Best Actress for The Iron Lady, while Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy won outstanding British film.

Colin Firth presented the gong to Meryl who lost her shoe as she made her way to the stage of London's Royal Opera House. "That couldn't have gone worse," she said. "Somebody once said the fate of the well-known is to be misunderstood and the ambition of this film, The Iron Lady, was to look at the life of the Iron Lady from the inside out," she continued.

Octavia Spencer beat Jessica Chastain, her co-star in civil rights drama The Help, to win the Best Supporting Actress gong.

Christopher Plummer was named best supporting actor, for his role as an elderly father who comes out as gay in Beginners.

Hollywood director Martin Scorsese picked up the Bafta Fellowship Award and his most recent film, Hugo, picked up awards for production design and sound.