Helena Bonham Carter will receive the coveted Richard Harris Award and Liam Neeson The Variety Award at the 13th Moët British Independent Film Awards.

The Richard Harris Award was introduced in 2003 in honour of Richard Harris and recognises outstanding contribution to British film by an actor.  Previous winners have included John Hurt, David Thewlis, Bob Hoskins, Jim Broadbent and most recently Daniel Day-Lewis in 2009.

For over a decade Helena Bonham Carter has been a familiar face on screen, including The Wings of the Dove, A Room with a View, Corpse Bride, Hamlet, Howards End, Sweeney Todd, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit, The Harry Potter Franchise, Enid, Alice In Wonderland and The King’s Speech for which she has also received a Best Supporting Actress Nomination at this year’s awards.  She will be seen later in the year in the film adaptation of Nigel Slater’s bestselling novel Toast.

Liam Neeson will pick-up the Variety Award which recognises an actor, director, writer or producer who has helped to focus the international spotlight on the UK.  Neeson is in great company with the Variety Award which was received last year by Sir Michael Caine and previously by JK Rowling, Helen Mirren, Richard Curtis, Michael Sheen and Keira Knightley to name a few.

Neeson has been making feature films for nearly thirty years; his notable credits include Husbands and Wives, Rob Roy, Michael Collins and Schindler’s List for which he received Best Actor nominations for the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and the BAFTA’s.  He has established himself as a versatile actor, lending his voice to the most famous fictional lion, Aslan for The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy, taking leading and cameo roles in box office hits such as Batman Begins, Taken, Love Actually, Gangs of New York, Clash of the Titans and The A-Team and in 2011 we will see him star in Unknown with Diane Kruger and The Hangover Part II with Zach Galifianakis.