Cannes do ... We Need to Talk About Kevin. Photograph: Nicole Rivelli
In some ways, 2011 was the strangest year in living memory for British cinema.
The UK Film Council was officially wound up at the end of March, a showy act from this coalition government, annulling a Labour creation on the grounds of high salaries and cronyism, but transferring much of its budget and responsibilities to the
British Film Institute. And this at a time when the Film Council was having a golden age: a bag of Oscars for
The King's Speech and a feeling that it had fostered real talent. Something was going very right for British cinema. Lynne Ramsey's
We Need to Talk About Kevin premiered at Cannes;
Steve McQueen's
Shame and
Andrea Arnold's
Wuthering Heights made waves at Venice.
Two film-makers from Iran showed that cinema was able to address the question of the Arab spring:
Mohammad Rasoulof and Jafar Panahi, directors and pro-democracy campaigners, have been given prison sentences for alleged crimes against national security. Showing enormous courage, they made films in 2011 that were critical of Iran. Panahi's
This Is Not a Film and
Rasoulof's Good Bye were shown at Cannes. I was on the Un Certain Regard jury that gave Rasoulof the directing prize.
Film-makers showed that 3D was not simply the fad that many had feared, with three directors making movies that grappled with its possibilities. Wim Wenders'
Pina, about choreographer Pina Bausch, captured the physicality of dance; Werner Herzog's
Cave of Forgotten Dreams intensified the mysteries of
cave paintings; and Martin Scorsese's
Hugo applied 3D to a family fantasy adventure.
An established talent and a relative newcomer gave us two of the year's best films. Terrence Malick's
The Tree of Life was a bold and visionary work on an unfashionable Christian-humanist theme; while Michel Hazanavicius's
The Artist was, released later this month, a glorious and loving pastiche of the Hollywood silent age.
Best breakthrough: Tom Hiddleston, for working with Branagh, Allen and Spielberg in quick succession.
Survivor of the year: Woody Allen, for
Midnight in Paris.
Worst sequel: Split between
The Hangover Part II and
The Human Centipede 2.
Peter Bradshaw's picks of 2011
Best film
The Artist (dir. Michel Hazanavicius)
Margaret (dir. Kenneth Lonergan)
A Separation (dir. Asghar Farhadi)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (dir. Tomas Alfredson)
Poetry (dir. Lee Chang-dong)
The Tree of Life (dir. Terrence Malick)
Le Quattro Volte (dir. Michelangelo Frammartino)
We Need to Talk About Kevin (dir. Lynne Ramsay)
The Skin I Live In (dir. Pedro Almodóvar)
Bridesmaids (dir. Paul Feig)
Best director
Michel Hazanavicius for
The Artist
Andrea Arnold for
Wuthering Heights
Terence Davies for
The Deep Blue Sea
Terrence Malick for
The Tree of Life
Semih Kaplanoglu for
Honey
Michelangelo Frammartino for
Le Quattro Volte
Asghar Farhadi for
A Separation
Duncan Jones for
Source Code
Kelly Reichardt for
Meek's Cutoff
Joanna Hogg for
Archipelago
Best actor
Brad Pitt for
The Tree of Life (dir. Terrence Malick)
Jean Dujardin for
The Artist (dir. Michel Hazanavicius)
Peter Mullan for
Tyrannosaur (dir. Paddy Considine)
Gary Oldman for
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (dir. Tomas Alfredson)
Daniel Henshall for
Snowtown (dir. Justin Kurzel)
Aiden Gillen for
Treacle Jr (dir. Jamie Thraves)
Gérard Depardieu for
Mammuth (dirs. Gustave Kervern, Benoît Delépine)
Antonio Banderas for
The Skin I Live In (dir. Pedro Almodóvar)
Michael Fassbender for
Jane Eyre (dir. Cary Fukunaga)
Anders Danielsen Lie for
Oslo, August 31st (dir. Joachim Trier)
Best supporting actor
Kenneth Branagh for
My Week With Marilyn (dir. Simon Curtis)
David Wenham for
Oranges and Sunshine (dir. Jim Loach)
Ezra Miller for
We Need to Talk About Kevin (dir. Lynne Ramsay)
Bruce Greenwood for
Meek's Cutoff (dir. Kelly Reichardt)
Michel Galabru for
Love Like Poison (dir. Katell Quillévéré)
Matthew Lewis for
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (dir. David Yates)
Christopher Plummer for
Beginners (dir. Mike Mills)
Albert Brooks for
Drive (dir. Nicolas Winding Refn)
Chris Langham for
Black Pond (dirs. Tom Kingsley, Will Sharpe)
Udo Kier for
Melancholia (dir. Lars von Trier)
Best actress
Bérénice Bejo for
The Artist (dir. Michel Hazanavicius)
Anna Paquin for
Margaret (dir. Kenneth Lonergan)
Michelle Williams for
My Week With Marilyn (dir. Simon Curtis)
Rachel Weisz for
The Deep Blue Sea (dir. Terence Davies)
Rinko Kikuchi for
Norwegian Wood (dir. Tran Anh Hung)
Tilda Swinton for
We Need to Talk About Kevin (dir. Lynne Ramsay)
Yun Jung-hee for
Poetry (dir. Lee Chang-dong)
Liana Liberato for
Trust (dir. David Schwimmer)
Olivia Colman for
Tyrannosaur (dir. Paddy Considine)
Catherine Deneuve for
Potiche (dir. François Ozon)
Best supporting actress
Zawe Ashton for
Dreams of a Life (dir. Carol Morley)
Melissa McCarthy for
Bridesmaids (dir. Paul Feig)
Lubna Azabal for
Incendies (dir. Denis Villeneuve)
Sareh Bayat for
A Separation (dir. Asghar Farhadi)
Rachael Blake for
Sleeping Beauty (dir. Julia Leigh)
Valeria De Franciscis Bendoni for
The Salt Of Life (dir. Gianni di Gregorio)
Elle Fanning for
Super 8 (dir. JJ Abrams)
Marion Cotillard for
Midnight in Paris (dir.
Woody Allen)
Allison Janney for
Margaret (dir. Kenneth Lonergan)
Sally Hawkins for
Submarine (dir. Richard Ayoade)
Best documentary
Senna (dir. Asif Kapadia)
George Harrison: Living in the Material World (dir. Martin Scorsese)
Cave f Forgotten Dreams (dir. oWerner Herzog)
Pina (dir. Wim Wenders)
Inside Job (dir. Charles Ferguson)
Dreams of a Life (dir. Carol Morley)
Bobby Fischer Against the World (dir. Liz Garbus)
Waste Land (dir. Lucy Walker)
Tt3d: Closer to the Edge (dir. Richard de Araques)
Project Nim (dir. James Marsh)
Best screenplay
Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for Moneyball (dir. Bennett Miller)
George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon for The Ides of March (dir. George Clooney)
Woody Allen for
Midnight in Paris (dir. Woody Allen)
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo for
Bridesmaids (dir. Paul Feig)
Richard Ayoade for
Submarine (dir. Richard Aoyade)
Benoît Délepine and Gustave de Kervern for
Mammuth (dirs. Benoît Délepine, Gustave de Kervern)
Joe Cornish for Attack the Block (dir. Joe Cornish)
Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan for
tinker tailor soldier spy (dir. Tomas Alfredson)
Kenneth Lonergan for
Margaret (dir. Kenneth Lonergan)
Asghar Farhadi for
A Separation (dir. Asghar Farhadi)
The Guardian
