61st British Academy Film Awards 61st British Academy Film Awards The 61st British Academy Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, took place on 10 February 2008 and honoured the best films of 2007. "Atonement" won Best Film, while Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, won Best Director for "No Country for Old Men", which also went on to win Best Cinematography and Best Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem. Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for "There Will Be Blood", Marion Cotillard won Best Actress for "La Vie en Rose (La Môme)", and Tilda Swinton won Best Supporting Actress for "Michael Clayton".
Academy Awards to date, however, was the 42nd Academy Awards (Best Picture "Midnight Cowboy") which drew a 43.4% household rating on 7 April 1970. By contrast, ceremonies honoring films that have not performed well at the box office tend to show weaker ratings. The 78th Academy Awards which awarded low-budgeted, independent film "Crash" (with a pre-Oscar gross of US$53.4 million) generated an audience of 38.64 million with a household rating of 22.91%. In 2008, the 80th Academy Awards telecast was watched by 31.76 million viewers on average with an 18.66% household rating, the lowest rated and least watched ceremony at the time,