Stars gather on South Bank for NFT bash

The British Film Institute also used the occasion to award Fellowships to the film producer and Miramax boss Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob, whose film hits include Shakespeare in Love. Paltrow, star of the film partly set on Bankside, was making her first public appearance since the recent death of her father Bruce.

Praising the National Film Theatre, Miranda Richardson described the hidden venue under Waterloo Bridge as "a gathering place and ... a melting pot for cinema".

Sunday's gala was hosted by Mariella Fostrup and also attended by Jane Horrocks, Rhys Ifans, Lynda La Plante, Terry Gilliam, John Hurt, Alan Rickman and Jim Broadbent.

Also present was outgoing BFI chairman Joan Bakewell, who last week played down the controversy over the BFI's plans not to directly replace the Museum of the Moving Image, formerly based on the South Bank alongside the NFT.

The assembled stars saw a video message sent by the Prince of Wales and later attended a dinner just across Waterloo Bridge at the Savoy Hotel.