The Artist continued its promising run up to the Oscars after taking three major prizes at the London Film Critics' Circle awards.

Michel Hazanavicius's silent, black-and-white tribute to Hollywood's golden era took home gongs for film of the year, director of the year and actor of the year (Jean Dujardin) at the ceremony in central London, ahead the announcement of the Oscar nominations next Tuesday. The evening's other big winner was Golden Globe-winning Iranian film A Separation, which took the foreign language film of the year, screenwriter of the year award for its director, Asghar Farhadi, and supporting actress of the year for Sareh Bayet.

No other film was garlanded with more than one award. British film of the year went to Lynne Ramsay's We Need to Talk About Kevin, her adaptation of the 2003 Lionel Shriver novel about a mother struggling to cope with a seemingly vindictive and evil child. "It's quite a dark film, so I'm really proud of the fact that a film as challenging as Kevin is getting an audience," said the Scottish film-maker.

Actress of the year was a tie between Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady and Anna Paquin for Margaret, the belatedly released drama from Kenneth Lonergan which has not figured largely in awards season thus far despite achieving rave reviews from key critics.

Kenneth Branagh was named best supporting actor. The star of My Week With Marilyn has received nominations from the Screen Actors Guild and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, curators of the Golden Globes, and is beginning to look like a decent bet to be named in the equivalent Oscars category next week for his portrayal of Laurence Olivier. He told the audience he had sent Olivier a letter asking for acting advice as a teenager. "His advice was to have a bash and hope for the best, which was a simple and very effective way of saying you've just got to do it," said Branagh.

The British actor of the year award went to Michael Fassbender for A Dangerous Method and Shame, with Olivia Colman winning British actress of the year for The Iron Lady and Tyrannosaur. Young British performer of the year went to Craig Roberts for Submarine.

Dujardin said he had been taken aback by The Artist's huge success so far during awards season. "We were never prepared for this. It is very new so I am so proud, for the crew, for the film. It's a very new experience but I'm happy," he said.

Critics' circle chairman Jason Solomons said: "Judging from the quality of films and performances honoured tonight, it is clear that the critics – who see every film, not just those with awards campaigns behind them – have an increasingly influential voice in awards races."

The awards, held at the BFI Southbank in London, are voted for by 120 British film critics, broadcasters and writers.