Sweet Sixteen named best of the independents

Two of the grittiest films of the year took top prizes last night at the British Independent Film Awards.

Ken Loach's film Sweet Sixteen, set on a rundown council scheme in Greenock where a teenager tries to find the money for a home when his mother gets out of prison, won best film, and its young star, Martin Compston, was named most promising actor.

There was also double delight for Paul Greengrass's Bloody Sunday. The film, which has already been given the Golden Bear for best film at the Berlin film festival, won him best director.

Cold Feet star James Nesbitt was voted best actor for his portrayal of the civil rights leader Ivan Cooper.

Despite a tiny release in Britain, Bloody Sunday has been an unexpected hit on the continent and in the United States, where it opened to rave reviews last month.

Ironically, it was one of the last features to be made by Granada before its film production arm folded.

But it was the Scots who had most to celebrate, with two awards for Lynne Ramsay's second feature, Morvern Callar, which came trailing acclaim from the Cannes and Edinburgh festivals.

Samantha Morton was named best actress and the multi-award winning director of photography, Alwin Kuchler, took another bow for technical achievement.

The best screenplay award went to Tom Hunsinger and Neil Hunter for The Lawless Heart, while Michael Winterbottom's "Madchester" romp, 24 Hour Party People, starring Steve Coogan, took the production prize.

The most poignant award of the night was to the actor Richard Harris, who died last Friday aged 72, for his outstanding contribution to independent films.

Awards founder Elliot Grove said: "We are delighted with the calibre of films this year, especially the Scottish contingent.

"It is great to see that Scotland has developed a strong film industry and we are pleased that our sponsors also come from Scotland, which appears to be the new hotbed for British film-making."