We Need to Talk About Kevin takes best film at Evening Standard Film Awards

But director Lynne Ramsay was one of many home-grown stars celebrating today with her co-writer and husband, Rory Stewart Kinnear, as We Need To Talk About Kevin won best film at the 39th Evening Standard British Film Awards.

At a celebrity-packed ceremony at the London Film Museum in County Hall, victory was sweet for the couple as their adaptation of Lionel Shriver's searing novel about a mother's despair over her malevolent son won top honours.

Ramsay, 42, who lives in Archway, became a darling of cinephiles with her brilliant debut Ratcatcher in 1999, but suffered a long gap in film-making after being dropped from The Lovely Bones. She said it was an honour to win - but a titanic struggle to keep her marriage on course amid such creative tension.

"A lot of the time I thought I would give up," she said. "We nearly divorced many times during the process."

It was the first time she and her husband, 36, had worked together. He had recommended she read the book, but only stepped in as co-writer after a draft with another writer failed.

The awards ceremony - hosted last night for the third consecutive year by Stephen Mangan, star of Episodes and Green Wing - was a unique celebration of British film and London talent. Michael Fassbender, 34, was named best actor for his portrayal of a sex addict in Steve McQueen's film Shame, while Olivia Colman, 38, was best actress for Tyrannosaur.

In pictures: Evening Standard Film Awards

Asif Kapadia, 39, who lives near Finsbury Park, returned a decade after winning most promising newcomer with The Warrior to accept the documentary award for Senna, about the Grand Prix hero Ayrton Senna. Kapadia admitted he had "a lot of doubts" about the project until he saw archive footage of the doomed driver. "I couldn't believe how much existed," he said.

This year's promising newcomers were Tom Kingsley, 26, of Kilburn, and Will Sharpe, 25, of Surrey, who made their film debut, Black Pond, starring Chris Langham, for £25,000.

"We're at the very start of our careers and it's really wonderful to have some recognition and some indication that we're not mad for embarking on this very risky profession," Kingsley said.

Andrew Haigh, 38, who was an assistant editor on films such as Gladiator before turning to writing, won best screenplay with his gay romance, Weekend. Irish cop movie The Guard won the comedy award for writer-director John Michael McDonagh. Mark Strong, one of its stars, said: "What is really satisfying is that the script which had me howling with laughter turned into the film everyone enjoyed so much."

Accepting the blockbuster award - voted for by the public - on behalf of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, its star Bonnie Wright said those involved in the franchise had made the movies "for the people who loved them".

Presenters and guests included Downton Abbey stars Elizabeth McGovern, Joanne Froggatt and newcomer nominee Jessica Brown Findlay, as well as Sophie Okonedo, Clémence Poésy, Noel Fielding, Warwick Davis, Roger Allam, best actor nominee Tom
Hiddleston and Hayley Atwell.

The winners

*Best Film
We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lynne Ramsay

*Best Actor
Michael Fassbender, Shame and Jane Eyre

*Best Actress
Olivia Colman, Tyrannosaur

*Most Promising Newcomers
Tom Kingsley and Will Sharpe, Black Pond

*Peter Sellers Award for Comedy
The Guard, John Michael McDonagh

*Best Documentary
Senna, Asif Kapadia

*Best Screenplay
Andrew Haigh, Weekend

*London Film Museum Award for Technical Achievement
Robbie Ryan, Wuthering Heights

*Alexander Walker Special Award
John Hurt

*Blockbuster of the Year, People's Choice Award
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, 3D