Poster of "The Kings Speech"

"The Kings Speech" was the big winner at Sunday’s British Independent Film Awards. Let’s drop in on the ceremony and see what surprises there were for the nominees.

"The Kings Speech" directed by Tom Hooper picked up five awards including Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Actor for Colin Firth, Best Supporting Actor and Actress for Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter respectively.

When collecting her award, Helena Bonham Carter joked that she had originally wanted to play the part of the King.

The British actress who is married to director Tim Burton was also awarded the Richard Harris Award for outstanding contribution by an actor to British Film.

"Wall Street 2" star Carey Mulligan won in the Best Actress category, and graciously shared her award with the other nominees.

The actress, dressed in red, looked nervous and said she had written some words on her hand to read out, but added that she might miss some people because of her sweaty palms.

A surprise win came for newcomer Gareth Edwards, who won Best Director award for his low budget horror "Monsters." The film also clinched the best Achievement in Production Award.

Edwards made the film on a budget of just 15,000 US dollars using only two real actors and the rest of the cast made up of locals on location.

Best Actress winner Carey Mulligan walks the red carpet at the 2010 British Independent Film Awards.