'Rings,' HBO rule at American Film awards

A scene from "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings"

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The first "Lord of the Rings" release, one of a series of three, was named best picture of the year Saturday at the American Film Institute awards -- offering what may be an early glimpse of likely Oscar contenders.

Among other high-profile awards, male and female actor of the year honors went to Denzel Washington, who played a corrupt narcotics detective in "Training Day," and Sissy Spacek, for her portrayal of a grieving mother in "In the Bedroom."

Featured actor awards went to Gene Hackman in "The Royal Tenenbaums" and Jennifer Connelly in "A Beautiful Mind."

"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," based on J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogy, also won awards for production design and digital effects.

MORE STORIES Complete list of winners

Robert Altman was named director of the year for "Gosford Park," and Christopher Nolan won screenwriter of the year for his nonchronological mystery "Memento."

Director Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down," about a failed U.S. military mission in Somalia, earned five nominations but was shut out.

HBO earns several awards

Premium cable's HBO pulled off a near clean sweep in the seven television categories, including "The Sopranos" as drama series of the year and Larry David's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" as comedy series of the year.

"Band of Brothers," the World War II drama produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks for HBO, was named the AFI television movie or mini-series of the year.

James Gandolfini and Edie Falco of "The Sopranos" were named male and female actors of the year in a TV series.

Jeffrey Wright, who appeared as Martin Luther King Jr. in HBO's "Boycott," was named male actor of the year in a TV movie or miniseries, while the female actor honor went to Judy Davis, who played the title role in ABC's "Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows. "

Washington, Altman, Hackman, Connelly and Gandolfini were among the no-shows at the event, which was broadcast live on CBS.

The first-ever AFI Awards, judged by a panel of actors, producers, writers and scholars, also leapt in front of the Golden Globes and others to become the first major awards show of the season.

The Golden Globes takes place January 20, actor and director guilds give out their awards in March, and the Academy Awards is set for March 24.