Benedict Cumberbatch, together with Keira Knightley, attended the Newport Beach Film Festival pre-BAFTA private reception in London on Thursday.

His role as Enigma code breaker Alan Turing in "The Imitation Game" has seen him nominated in the Best Actor category at most of the major film awards shows. And this Sunday he's in the running for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award (BAFTA) - the UK's equivalent to the Academy Awards.

Thursday's event saw "The Imitation Game" given two of the Newport Beach Film Festival's highest honors - Best Picture and Best Ensemble Cast. Cumberbatch said he felt blessed that the film is receiving so many accolades.

"It's wonderful. And again it's a reminder of just what an incredible story it is really and we've got the really extraordinary and very privileged job of trying to drive that home and bring it to a larger audience. So, again, it's more attention for somebody who had very little in his life, was very wronged and who we all cared about deeply making this film. So, it's great for us as artists making the film, but ultimately it's great for Alan Turing," he said.

Playing Turing and learning more about his story has had a lasting effect on the 38-year-old actor.

"An incredible amount of people suffered and many lost their lives through depression or suicide, let alone the social stigma and horrendous prejudice. So, anything we can do to honor those people with a pardon, with recognition for what they suffered is a good thing. It's sad that it even occurred, but at least with this film and the movement behind it for Alan Turing we can hopefully capitalize on that for the others," he said.

Joining Cumberbatch Thursday night were his "Imitation Game" co-stars Keira Knightley, Matthew Beard and Alex Lawther. For newcomers Beard and Lawther, experiencing the awards season frenzy has been a thrill.

"The nicest part that I've found is awards season has given us a chance to reunite and catch up, because we've not seen each other, some of us, in about a year, since we were last filming. So yeah, it's a nice opportunity to say hello again," said Alex Lawther.

"It's not the worst sort of whirlwind to be in, is it? It's all very nice things and everyone is very nice and you're just reuniting with old friends and hanging out, it's great," said Matthew Beard.

"The Imitation Game" tells the story of Turing, a British pioneering computer scientist, cryptanalyst, mathematician... and also a gay man in an era when homosexuality was illegal. He was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 and committed suicide two years later.

In 2013 he was posthumously pardoned by the British government.

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