( CNN ) -- The 3D space disaster movie `` Gravity '' and the drama `` 12 Years a Slave '' scooped the awards at the 2014 BAFTA awards , with the harrowing portrayal of 19th century American slavery taking out best film and best actor awards . Accepting the best film award , `` 12 Years a Slave '' director Steve McQueen said : `` There are 21 million people in slavery now as we sit here . I just hope that 150 years from now our ambivalence will not allow another film-maker to make this film . '' British-born actor Chiwetel Ejiofor beat shortlisted actors Christian Bale , Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks to win the best actor award , thanking McQueen for his `` work , artistry and passion in this project . '' Addressing his director he said : `` This is yours , I know that ... you know that . I 'm going to keep it , that 's the kind of guy I am , but it 's yours . '' Ejiofor is also in the frame to win an Oscar and may take the stage again at next month 's Academy Awards ceremony . CNN Oscar ballot : Make your choices , share your picks . The deep space thriller `` Gravity , '' meanwhile , won an impressive six awards -- just one award shy of `` The Artist '' in 2012 and `` The King 's Speech '' in 2011 -- including best director and best British film . Alfonso Cuaron accepted the best director award for the film , which also triumphed in the special effects category against stiff competition from a shortlist that included `` Iron Man 3 , '' `` The Hobbit : The Desolation of Smaug , '' `` Pacific Rim '' and `` Star Trek Into Darkness . '' The record of nine British Academy Film Awards is still held by the 1969 American Western `` Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid . '' The biggest applause of the evening was reserved for newcomer Barkhad Abdi , who was named best supporting actor for his portrayal of a Somali pirate in `` Captain Phillips . '' Winning in a strong category against Bradley Cooper , Matt Damon and Michael Fassbender , he thanked co-star Tom Hanks and director Paul Greengrass for `` believing in me before I believed in myself . '' Abdi , previously a limousine driver in Minneapolis , was cast after turning up to the audition on a whim . Other winners included `` The Act of Killing '' -- a film examining the Indonesian death squads of the mid-1960s - which won in the documentary section . Its director Joshua Oppenheimer accused Britain and the US of actively supporting the 1965 genocide in Indonesia and the regime which followed . The best animated film award went to Disney 's `` Frozen '' -- a blockbuster that has grossed nearly $ 1 billion worldwide - which beat `` Despicable Me 2 '' and `` Monsters University '' to the BAFTA . Special coverage : Awards season 2014 . The winner in the best short film category was `` Room 8 '' and `` Sleeping with the Fishes '' won in the best short animation section . Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope won in the best adapted screenplay section for `` Philomena '' -- a movie about a woman 's 50-year-long search for her son , beating John Ridley 's screenplay for `` 12 Years a Slave . '' Coogan said there were still another 60,000 women who had not traced their children , taken from them by nuns and put up for adoption , and `` their story is n't yet over '' . Dame Helen Mirren was given BAFTA 's highest award , a fellowship . Having played the British Queen in film , she was given the award , somewhat appropriately , by the Queen 's grandson Prince William . `` I should probably call her granny , '' he joked .
`` Gravity '' and `` 12 Years a Slave '' win top awards at prestigious British BAFTA ceremony . Steve McQueen-directed slavery drama wins best film and best actor awards . British-born actor Chiwetel Ejiofor wins best actor award . Dame Helen Mirren was given Academy 's highest award , a fellowship .