'Pride' wins big at the British Independent Film Awards

LONDON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Pride was the big winner at Sunday's 17th Moët British Independent Film Awards ceremony at Old Billingsgate in London.

The gay-rights comedy-drama earned the honors for Best British Independent Film, Best Supporting Actress for Imelda Staunton and Best Supporting Actor for Andrew Scott. Yann Demange won the Best Director prize for '71, while Gugu Mbatha-Raw scored the Best Actress trophy for Belle and Brendan Gleeson won the Best Actor title for Calvary.

Simon Bird served as host of the awards ceremony.

"In our final year as directors, it is terrific to see such an amazing mix of the established and new being represented in our honorees tonight," Johanna von Fischer and Tessa Collinson, the event's joint directors, said in a statement. "The range of diverse and unique talent in this country is awe inspiring. Our jury has had some truly tough decisions to make. We hope these results will excite audiences and encourage more people to search out these films creating a greater demand for British Independent cinema. 2014 also sees us celebrate five years of a fabulous partnership with title sponsor Moët & Chandon, who add that extra sparkle each year for which we are incredibly grateful."