Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire has just gathered another clutch of awards, picking up a trio of highly coveted RAFAs. What on earth are RAFAs, you ask. Well, not to be confused with Razzies, or, indeed, a Spanish tennis player, these are the Richard Attenborough Film Awards, voted for by UK regional film critics, and Slumdog has walked away with the gongs for Film of the year, Filmmaker of the year for Boyle and Rising Star for Dev Patel.
The full list of RAFAs, announced today, goes like this:
Film of the year Slumdog Millionaire
Filmmaker of the year Danny Boyle, director, Slumdog Millionaire
Rising Star of the year Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionaire
Actress of the year Kate Winslet for The Reader
Actor of the year Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler
Screenwriter of the year Martin McDonagh for In Bruges
This year, the public also got in on the act, awarding a pair of people’s choice awards to The Dark Knight, one to Mamma Mia!, and yet another, for British Breakthrough Star of the year, to Dev Patel.
Boyle, who introduced his film to the UK press last October at Cinema Days, a trade event for regional journalists held on this occasion, coincidentally, in Dickie Attenborough’s childhood home of Leicester , was chuffed with his brace of RAFAs: “This is a delight and an honour to be recognised for Slumdog Millionaire. My only regret is it doesn’t happen for every film!”
Could an Oscar (or two) be next?
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