Veteran British actress Judi Dench was honored at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards on Tuesday for a career that has spanned more than 50 years.
Other winners included low-budget movie "Monsters," which beat Mike Leigh's "Another Year" and Clio Barnard's "The Arbor" in the best film category.
Monsters, a cross between a sci-fi disaster film and a romantic road trip, was shot and produced by the British director Gareth Edwards on a budget reported to be less than 200,000 pounds ($315,000).
The TV Drama category went to Channel 4's "This is England '86," despite competition from the popular BBC series "Sherlock" and E4's "Misfits."
The pop music award was won by Plan B, who accepted the prize from Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood.
The rapper and singer-songwriter, also known as Ben Drew, topped the charts with his acclaimed album "The Defamation of Strickland Banks," and has also directed his first film called "Ill Manors."
Following is a list of the South Bank Sky Arts Awards winners in 2011:
- Outstanding achievement: Judi Dench
- Classical music: BBC Philharmonic and the Halle for Mahler's 8th Symphony
- Comedy: Rev on BBC 2
- Dance: Akram Khan's Gnosis at Sadler's Wells
- Film: Monsters directed by Gareth Edwards - Literature: What to Look for in Winter: A Memoir in Blindness by Candia McWilliam
- Opera: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Welsh National Opera
- Pop music: The Defamation of Strickland Banks, Plan B
- Theater: Clybourne Park at The Royal Court
- TV drama: This is England '86 on Channel 4
- Visual Arts: Tacita Dean Craneway Event at Frith Street Gallery
- Times Breakthrough Award: Everything Everything