Nae Pasaran! and Armando Iannucci win big at BAFTA Scotland awards

BAFTA Scotland’s annual awards ceremony took place last night in Glasgow. The glitzy but rather shambolic affair saw awards go to actor Alan Cumming for Outstanding Contribution to Film and Television, Susan Calman for her game show Armchair Detectives, and the great Elaine C Smith, who won the Best Actress in a TV programme award for comedy Two Doors Down.

The big winner of the night was Nae Pasaran!, a documentary about four workers at East Kilbride’s Rolls-Royce plant – Bob Fulton, Robert Somerville, John Keenan, Stuart Barrie – who, six months after the military coup of Chile in 1973, refused to repair engines belonging to Pinochet’s air force. Winning BAFTA Scotland’s Best Feature Film award, Felipe Bustos Sierra's documentary is an inspirational film showing that even the smallest act of defiance against an oppressor can have a positive outcome.

The other big winner of the night was Glaswegian satarist Armando Iannucci, who won Best Director and Best Writer for his coal black comedy The Death of Stalin. The film was so blistering it was banned in Russia, and while accepting the award in a pre-prepared video, Iannucci expressed concerns for his fellow nominees and everyone else at the award ceremony. “Can I just say how brave you are for awarding this film this award…” before warning guests: “maybe don’t eat any food or touch any door handles on your way in and out of the celebrations. Other than that, have a lovely evening.”

Menacing Highland-set thriller Calibre walked away with the Best Actor award, although this was a tad unsurprising given the film’s three stars – Jack Lowden, Tony Curran and Martin McCann – were the only actors in the running. While that doesn’t speak well to the breadth of parts in Scottish cinema, it was a deserved win for rising star Lowden. The line-up for Best Actress was more eclectic, with nods for Ella Hunt for zombie horror-musical Anna and the Apocalypse, Siân Phillips for her work in May Miles Thomas’ touching documentary Voyageuse and Shauna Macdonald for horror White Chamber; Macdonald took the prize.

The full list of winners are below:

Feature Film

Nae Pasaran
Anna and the Apocalypse
The Party's Just Beginning

Writer, Film/Television

Armando Iannucci - The Death of Stalin
David Kane - Shetland
Matt Palmer - Calibre

Actor, Film

Jack Lowden - Calibre
Tony Curran - Calibre
Martin McCann - Calibre

Actress, Film

Shauna Macdonald - White Chamber
Ella Hunt - Anna and the Apocalypse
Siân Phillips - Voyageuse

Actor, Television

Chris Reilly - The Last Post
Douglas Henshall - Shetland
Jonathan Watson - Two Doors Down

Actress, Television

Elaine C Smith - Two Doors Down
Morven Christie - The A Word
Kiran Sonia Sawar - Black Mirror: Crocodile

Television Scripted

Scot Squad
Shetland
Trust Me

Features and Factual Series

Violent Men: Behind Bars
Class of Mum and Dad
The Force: The Story of Scotland's Police

Director, Factual

John Maclaverty - Scotland 78: A Love Story
Matt Pinder - Violent Men: Behind Bars
Felipe Bustos Sierra - Nae Pasaran!

Director, Fiction

Armando Iannucci - The Death of Stalin
Colm McCarthy - Black Mirror: Black Museum
Matt Palmer - Calibre

Specialist Factual

Imagine... Rupert Everett: Born to be Wilde
The Cancer Hospital
Trust Me, I'm a Doctor - Mental Health Special

Single Documentary

Scotland 78: A Love Story
Breadline Kids
Life Behind Bars: Visiting Hour

Animation

Widdershins
Scottish Cup
Short Changed

Game

Beckett
Cobi Hoops 2
oOo: Ascension

Entertainment

Armchair Detectives
Last Commanders
Raven

Short Film

My Loneliness is Killing Me
I Was Here
Slap