'The Artist' wins seven awards at BAFTAs including best picture, director

"The Artist" picked up seven awards including best picture at the 64th BAFTA Awards, the British equivalent of the Academy Awards, held today in the Royal Opera House in Covent Harden.

"The Artist" won 7 awards Sunday.

The silent film, which had earned 12 nominations, also took home the prize for best leading actor for Jean Dujardin and best director for Michel Hazanavicius, as well as original screenplay, cinematography, original music and costume design.

Meanwhile, the spy thriller "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" was named outstanding British film for the year and was also awarded for best original screenplay.

Meryl Streep won best leading actress for her role as former prime minister Margaret Thatcher. The supporting categories went to the presumed frontrunners in Christopher Plummer ("The Beginners") and Octavia Spencer ("The Help").

In the animated category, Gore Verbinski's "Rango" beat out "The Adventures of Tintin" for the prize.

Martin Scorsese's "Hugo" was awarded for production design and sound. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2," took home the prize for special effects.

The award show will air in the U.S. on BBC America tonight (Sunday) at 8 p.m. and again at 11:40.

A full list of the winners and nominees can be seen below:

Octavia Spencer joins sci-fi project 'Snow Piercer'

Octavia Spencer, who is considered the front runner for Best Support Actress at this year's Academy Awards for her work in "The Help" has signed on to star in Bong Joon-Ho's sci-fi project "Snow Piercer."

Octavia Spencer

Acording to Heat Vision, Spencer will join Chris Evans ("Captain America"), John Hurt ("Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy"), Tilda Swinton ("We Need to Talk about Kevin") and Korean actor Kang Ho Song, who starred in Joon-Ho's "The Host."

Joon-Ho co-wrote the script, which is an adaptation of the 1970s French graphic novel "Le Transperceneige." In the future a failed attempt to stop global warning ushers in a new ice age, killing off all life on the planet. The only ones left live on the Snow Piercer, a train traveling around the world powered by a perpetual-motion engine.
The film will follow a revolution which breaks out on the train and Spencer will portray one of the passengers who joins in to save her son.

Kelly Masterson ("Before the Devil Knows You're Dead") wrote the most recent draft of the script.