Jennifer Lawrence, 22, who plays a feisty young widow in Silver Linings Playbook, was named best actress and David O. Russell picked up the best directing honour on Saturday.

“When you make a film from the heart, there is no such thing as genre. They are just real people, and if it’s funny in or of itself, that’s what happens and that’s what my whole cast taught me,” Russell said in accepting his award.

Austrian drama Amour, about an elderly couple coping with the effects of the wife’s debilitating stroke, won the Best Foreign Film award on Saturday.

 Amour director Michael Haneke, 70, was on hand to accept his award.

“I have the impression I’m the oldest man here,” he joked.

Helen Hunt was named Best Supporting Female for her role as a sex therapist in The Sessions, while her co-star John Hawkes, who plays a paraplegic, took the Best Male Lead award.

Matthew McConaughey was a winner for his supporting role as a male stripper in comedy Magic Mike.

The actor, who has enjoyed the biggest critical success in his career for the film, accepted the trophy saying, “I had to take my pants off to win an award.”