And the winner is - British actors, directors and producers. Congratulations to all those involved in the string of British successes at today's Golden Globes and commiserations to the losers (notably Frost/Nixon).

Topped by Slumdog Millionaire, a film which went from having no distributor last autumn to a resounding four wins at last night's ceremony, the British film industry has every reason to feel its on a roll.

Hollywood has long recognised the skill of British stars and technicians and encouraged them across the Atlantic.

But this year, unlike some years, many of the victories come from films actually conceived and backed by Britain.

It is not just a question of actors such as Tom Hopkinson winning acclaim in the mini-series John Adams, a history of America directed, incidentally, by the Londoner Tom Hooper in a move that might have made the founding father of the United States of America smile.

It is not even a matter of brilliant directors such as Sam Mendes and Stephen Daldry eliciting knockout performances from Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road and The Reader - an Anglo-German production - respectively.

Instead, it is Film4, the small but plucky film arm of Channel 4, that is the producing brains behind not only Slumdog but two of the other winners - Happy-Go-Lucky, Mike Leigh's story of a north London teacher, and In Bruges, the black comedy film debut of the playwright Martin McDonagh.

None of these was a surefire hit. Slumdog Millionaire has no star names, is a love story with added torture, some of it performed in Hindi. And even Danny Boyle, its effervescent director, had not produced a movie on the scale of his early triumphs Trainspotting and Shallow Grave for some time.

Happy-Go-Lucky was, as ever, a leap of faith in the ability of arch-improviser Mike Leigh to extract something special from his crack cast. And who could have predicted whether Martin McDonagh could have translated his Olivier Award-winning theatre success to film - not only as writer, but directing, too.

So hurrah for Tessa Ross and her team. But one word of warning.

It has been said before - and subsequently much mocked - that the British are coming. No one can doubt that this year they have done.

But the current financial state of Channel 4, Film4's paymaster, is parlous, to say the least. The Film4 film-makers have paid their way this year with hit after hit, even with productions - such as Hunger, the astonishing movie debut from the Turner Prize winner Steve McQueen - that were overlooked by the Globes.

Yet such success can never be guaranteed. All you can do is back talent.

And all that can be hoped is that the critical acclaim now ringing around Hollywood carries weight with those who hold the future of the channel - and, on current form, British film-making - in their hands.

ends