U.K. filmmaker scores awards for Moon

Up-and-coming filmmaker Duncan Jones snagged two trophies at the British Independent Film Awards Sunday night, with his spooky sci-fi thriller Moon winning both best film as well as best first feature at the London gala.

Jones, the son of music legend David Bowie, has won accolades for Moon, which stars Sam Rockwell as a lonely space worker assigned to operate a one-man lunar base. The film, made for about $5 million US, alsofeaturesKevin Spacey as the calm, yet unsettling voice of the on-board computer on the base.

Carey Mulligan, who rode a wave of critical acclaim for her turn in the 1960s-era coming-of-age film An Education this fall, won best actress. The best actor trophy went to Tom Hardy, who portrays a mentally disturbed prison inmate in the film Bronson.

Other 2009 winners include:

• Director: Andrea Arnold for Fish Tank.
• Screenplay: Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche for In the Loop.
• Supporting actress: Anne-Marie Duff for Nowhere Boy.
• Supporting actor: John Henshaw for Looking for Eric.
• Promising newcomer: Katie Jarvis for Fish Tank.
• Documentary: Mugabe and the White African.
• British short: Love You More.
• Foreign film: Let the Right One In.

The evening also included the presentation of a special award to Daniel Day-Lewis, for his outstanding contribution to British film, and a lifetime achievement honour to veteran actor Michael Caine, 76,who showered praise on others in his acceptance speech.

"It's completely different this sort of awards it's very small, it's not televised, it's just a very personal British thing," Caine said, describing the evening as a "learning process" about the new talent working in the industry.

"There has been so much talent out there that I didn't know about. I thought there was a massive talent here, but even I underestimated it. It's fantastic."