Lobster, 45 Years & Macbeth lead the charge at the BIFAs

With seven nominations, spread both in front of and behind the camera, the surreal, satirical multinational comedy The Lobster has set the running for this year’s Moët British Independent Film Awards.

Colin Farrell (seated right) and Ben Whishaw (standing) are among The Lobster's 7 BIFA nominations
Colin Farrell (seated right) and Ben Whishaw (standing) are among The Lobster’s 7 BIFA nominations

Its Greek auteur, Yorgos Lanthimos, is up for Best Director and Best Screenplay, while the film is up for Best British Independent Film and Best Producer, while Colin Farrell is nominated for Best Actor and Ben Whishaw and Olivia Colman have nods in their respective supporting categories.

45 Years and Macbeth have six nominations apiece, including for Best British Independent Film and Best Director. 45 Years is also nominated for its screenplay, its producer and its two leads, Charlotte Rampling and Sir Tom Courtenay, who’ll be up against Macbeth’s Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, for the Shakespeare adaptation that is also in the running for Best Cinematography and Best Supporting Actor, courtesy of Sean Harris.

Among Amy‘s five nominations, Asif Kapadia is up for Best Director, while the fifth Best British Independent Film nominee is Alex Garland’s Ex Machina.

Anne-Marie Duff (left), Carey Mulligan (centre) and Helena Bonham Carter (right) are nominated for Suffragette
Anne-Marie Duff (left), Carey Mulligan (centre) and Helena Bonham Carter (right) are nominated for Suffragette

Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne-Marie Duff secured three of Suffragette‘s four nominations, the fourth going to Brendan Gleeson, who’s up against his son Domhnall in the Best Supporting Actor category; the younger Gleeson being nominated alongside his Brooklyn co-stars Saoirse Ronan and Julie Walters.

Other acting nominees include Tom Hardy, who’s recognised for playing both of the Kray twins in Legend, High-Rise stars Tom Hiddleston, Sienna Miller and Luke Evans, and Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl, whose Oscar-winning star Eddie Redmayne is conspicuous by his absence.

The previously announced Variety Award, which recognises the global spotlight focused on the UK film industry, will be presented to Kate Winslet, when the other winners are announced at a ceremony at Old Billingsgate on Sunday 6th December.

THE FULL LIST OF BIFA 2015 NOMINEES

Best British Independent Film sponsored by Moët & Chandon
45 YEARS Tristan Goligher, Andrew Haigh
AMY James Gay-Rees, Asif Kapadia
EX MACHINA Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Alex Garland
THE LOBSTER Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Efthymis Filippou, Yorgos Lanthimos
MACBETH Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Laura Hastings-Smith, Todd Louiso, Jacob Koskoff, Michael Lesslie, Justin Kurzel

Best Director
45 YEARS Andrew Haigh
AMY Asif Kapadia
EX MACHINA Alex Garland
THE LOBSTER Yorgos Lanthimos
MACBETH Justin Kurzel

Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Films
45 YEARS Andrew Haigh
BROOKLYN Nick Hornby
EX MACHINA Alex Garland
THE LOBSTER Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou
HIGH-RISE Amy Jump

Best Actress sponsored by MAC
MARION COTILLARD Macbeth
CAREY MULLIGAN Suffragette
CHARLOTTE RAMPLING 45 Years
SAOIRSE RONAN Brooklyn
ALICIA VIKANDER The Danish Girl

Best Actor sponsored by Movado
TOM COURTENAY 45 Years
COLIN FARRELL The Lobster
MICHAEL FASSBENDER Macbeth
TOM HARDY Legend
TOM HIDDLESTON High-Rise

Best Supporting Actress
HELENA BONHAM CARTER Suffragette
OLIVIA COLMAN The Lobster
ANNE-MARIE DUFF Suffragette
SIENNA MILLER High-Rise
JULIE WALTERS Brooklyn

Best Supporting Actor
LUKE EVANS High-Rise
BRENDAN GLEESON Suffragette
DOMHNALL GLEESON Brooklyn
SEAN HARRIS Macbeth
BEN WHISHAW The Lobster

Most Promising Newcomer sponsored by The London Edition
AGYNESS DEYN Sunset Song
MIA GOTH The Survivalist
ABIGAIL HARDINGHAM Nina Forever
MILO PARKER Mr Holmes
BEL POWLEY A Royal Night Out

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by 3 Mills Studios
THE HALLOW Corin Hardy
KAJAKI: THE TRUE STORY Paul Katis
NINA FOREVER Chris & Ben Blaine
SLOW WEST John Maclean
THE SURVIVALIST Stephen Fingleton

The Discovery Award sponsored by Raindance
AAAAAAAAH! Andrew Starke, Steve Oram
BURN BURN BURN Daniel-Konrad Cooper, Tim Phillips, Charlie Covell, Chanya Button
ORION: THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING Jeanie Finlay
THE RETURN Oliver Nias
WINTER Tilly Wood, Paula Crickard, Heidi Greensmith

Best Documentary
AMY James Gay-Rees, Asif Kapadia
DARK HORSE: THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY OF DREAM ALLIANCE Judith Dawson, Louise Osmond
HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD Bous De Jong, Al Morrow, Jerry Rothwell
PALIO James Gay-Rees, John Hunt, Cosima Spender
A SYRIAN LOVE STORY Elhum Shakerifar, Sean McAllister

Producer of the Year
TRISTAN GOLIGHER 45 Years
JAMES GAY-REES Amy
PAUL KATIS, ANDREW DE LOTBINIERE Kajaki: The True Story
CECI DEMPSEY, ED GUINEY, YORGOS LANTHIMOS, LEE MAGIDAY The Lobster
DAVID A HUGHES, DAVID MOORES The Violators

Outstanding Achievement in Craft
ADAM ARKAPAW Cinematography – Macbeth
MARK DIGBY Production Design – Ex Machina
CHRIS KING Editing – Amy
FIONA WEIR Casting – Brooklyn
ANDREW WHITEHURST Visual Effects, Ex Machina

Best British Short Film
BALCONY Tom Kimberly, Ali Mansuri, Toby Fell-Holden
CRACK Joseph Taussig, Peter King
EDMOND Emilie Jouffroy, Nina Gantz
LOVE IS BLIND Lizzie Brown, Dan Hodgson
MANoMAN Kamilla Kristiane Hodøl, Simon Cartwright

Best International Independent Film
CAROL Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley, Christine Vachon, Phyllis Nagy, Todd Haynes
FORCE MAJEURE Erik Hemmendorff, Marie Kjellson, Philippe Bober, Ruben Östlund
GIRLHOOD Bénédicte Couvreur, Céline Sciamma
ROOM Ed Guiney, David Gross, Emma Donoghue, Lenny Abrahamson
SON OF SAUL Gábor Sipos, Gábor Rajna, Cara Royer, László Nemes