The stark drama, directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev took the prestigious award ahead of films from Sweden (Force Majeure), Poland (Ida), Estonia (Tangerines) and Israel (Gett). Hughes completed the grade on the film with Russian DOP Mikhael Krichman, who also recently worked as the DOP on the Subotica produced Miss Julie and will soon begin on the Jim Sheridan directed The Secret Scripture. Tim Morris and Sandi McGrath supervised the 4K Digital Intermediate at Windmill Lane in conjunction with the Russian producers and Moscow facilities for the film. Leviathan has already won awards at Cannes (Best Screenplay), was nominated for a BAFTA last week and is heavily tipped to be included in the Oscar nominations this Thursday.
Starring Aleksei Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, and Vladimir Vdovichenkov, Leviathan is a modern reworking of the Book of Job, set on a peninsula by the Barents Sea and tells the story of a man who struggles against a corrupt mayor who wants his piece of land. It has won acclaim for its underlying political parallels and controversial parables with modern-day Russia.
Meanwhile, coming-of-age drama Boyhood, which took 12 years to make, and comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel were the other big film winners on the night. Richard Linklater’s film, starring newcomer Ellar Coltrane and Ethan Hawke picked up awards for Best Drama, Director and Supporting Actress (Patricia Arquette), seemingly making it the frontrunner for this Thursday’s Oscar nominations. The Grand Budapest Hotel, directed by Wes Anderson and featuring a performance from Saoirse Ronan won Best Comedy/Musical. Other winners included Eddie Redmayne as Best Actor (Drama) for The Theory of Everything, Julianne Moore as Best Actress (Drama) for Still Alice, Michael Keaton as Best Actor (Comedy/Musical) for Birdman and Amy Adams as Best Actress (Comedy/Musical).