Europe was the early winner at the Oscars on Sunday with Brit Tilda Swinton and Spaniard Javier Bardem claiming the night's first acting awards and France and Italy also claiming honors.

Swinton picked up the Best Supporting Actress prize for her role in Michael Clayton, while Bardem's menacing portrayal of psychotic killer Anton Chigurh in No Country For Old Men earned the actor the Best Supporting Actor honor.

Italians Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo won the Best Art Direction award for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Frenchman Didier LaVergne and Brit Jan Archibald claimed the night's Best Makeup honor for Edith Piaf biopic La Vie En Rose.

French film Le Mozart Des Pickpockets won the Best Live Action Short and Britain's Peter & The Wolf was a Best Animated Short Film winner.

And with Irishman Daniel Day-Lewis and French actress Marion Cotillard red-hot favorites to win Best Actor and Actress accolades, it looks like it will be a great 80th Academy Awards for Europe.

The early winners are:
Best Costume Design: Alexandra Byrne (Elizabeth: The Golden Age)
Best Animated Feature Film: Ratatouille
Best Makeup: Didier LaVergne & Jan Archibald (La Vie En Rose)
Best Visual Effects: Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris
& Trevor Wood (The Golden Compass)
Best Art Direction: Dante Ferretti & Francesca Lo Schiavo
(Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men)
Best Live Action Short: Le Mozart Des Pickpockets
Best Animated Short Film: Peter & The Wolf
Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton)

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(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)