Director Kathryn Bigelow followed up on her BAFTA bashing of ex James Cameron, with war feature The Hurt Locker picking up 6 Academy Awards® for Best Picture, Directing, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Writing (Original Screenplay).

The drama based on the work of a bomb disposal unit in Iraq won plaudits around the globe, and was a UK Premiere at the 2009 Festival.

Meanwhile, independent Irish feature The Secret of Kells was a long-shot to win Best Animated Feature, running against a host of big budget studio productions.

Alas, it wasn't to be but director Tomm Moore has the comfort of his Standard Life Audience Award from EIFF 2009.