The Favourite is the favourite at BIFA 2018

It’s still October but the Awards Season has begun in earnest – on this side of the Atlantic at least – with the nominations for the British Independent Film Awards.

Olivia Colman (right) and Rachel Weisz have two of The Favourite’s 13 BIFA nominations

Up for the most awards is The Favourite – with thirteen nominations in twelve categories; Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz are up against each other in the Best Supporting Actress as two women vying for the attention of Queen Anne, played by Olivia Colman, who’s already picked up one Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival.

Weisz is also nominated against Colman for her role as a Jewish lesbian in a religious north London community, in the upcoming Disobedience, which has a total of five nominations. Gemma Arterton’s role in the self-produced The Escape also puts her in contention for Best Actress, alongside Funny Cow’s Maxine Peake.

Bart Layton’s American Animals has 11 BIFA nominations

The second most honoured film, up for awards in eleven categories, is the crime caper American Animals, which – while it doesn’t feel very British – was financed by Film 4 and has a British writer-director in Bart Layton, who’s up for four awards himself, for directing, writing, debut screenplay and producing the best film.

The other two films in contention for Best British Independent Film of 2018 are Beast, with a total of 10 nominations, and Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here, which is in the running for a total of eight awards, including Joaquin Phoenix, for Best Actor, whose competition will include Steve Coogan for his portrayal of the black-and-white movie star Stan Laurel in Stan & Ollie.

Two of Britain’s biggest contemporary rock musicians are in the running for the Best Music category, with Richard Hawley having scored Funny Cow and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood having composed the music for You Were Never Really Here.

The awards – which for the first time will also include a full array of technical categories – will be handed out at Old Billingsgate, in the City of London, on 2nd December, with the winners selected from the following full list:

BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM

AMERICAN ANIMALS 
BEAST
DISOBEDIENCE
THE FAVOURITE
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

BEST SCREENPLAY

AMERICAN ANIMALS – BART LAYTON
BEAST – MICHAEL PEARCE
DISOBEDIENCE – SEBASTIÁN LELIO  / REBECCA LENKIEWICZ
THE FAVOURITE – DEBORAH DAVIS  /  TONY MCNAMARA
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE – LYNNE RAMSAY

BEST DIRECTOR

AMERICAN ANIMALS – BART LAYTON
BEAST – MICHAEL PEARCE
THE FAVOURITE – YORGOS LANTHIMOS
LEAN ON PETE – ANDREW HAIGH
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE – LYNNE RAMSAY

BEST BRITISH SHORT

THE BIG DAY
BITTER SEA
THE FIELD
POMMEL
TO KNOW HIM

BEST ACTOR

THE HAPPY PRINCE – RUPERT EVERETT
LEAN ON PETE – CHARLIE PLUMMER
A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN – JOE COLE
STAN & OLLIE – STEVE COOGAN
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE – JOAQUIN PHOENIX

BEST ACTRESS

BEAST – JESSIE BUCKLEY
DISOBEDIENCE – RACHEL WEISZ
THE ESCAPE – GEMMA ARTERTON
THE FAVOURITE – OLIVIA COLMAN
FUNNY COW – MAXINE PEAKE

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

AMERICAN ANIMALS – EVAN PETERS
AMERICAN ANIMALS – BARRY KEOGHAN
COLETTE – DOMINIC WEST
DISOBEDIENCE – ALESSANDRO NIVOLA
LEAN ON PETE – STEVE BUSCEMI

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

APOSTASY- MOLLY WRIGHT
DISOBEDIENCE – RACHEL MCADAMS
THE FAVOURITE – EMMA STONE
THE FAVOURITE – RACHEL WEISZ
STAN & OLLIE – NINA ARIANDA

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER

APOSTASY – MOLLY WRIGHT
BEAST – JESSIE BUCKLEY
BEEN SO LONG- MICHAELA COEL
JELLYFISH – LIV HILL
OBEY – MARCUS RUTHERFORD

THE DISCOVERY AWARD

THE DIG – ANDY TOHILL / RYAN TOHILL / STUART DRENNAN – BRIAN J FALCONER
IRENE’S GHOST – IAIN CUNNINGHAM  /  REBECCA MARK-LAWSON  /  DAVID ARTHUR  / ELLIE LAND
A MOMENT IN THE REEDS – MIKKO MAKELA  /  JAMES WATSON
SUPER NOVEMBER – DOUGLAS KING  /  JOSIE LONG
VOYAGEUSE – MAY MILES THOMAS

THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD (DEBUT DIRECTOR)

APOSTASY – DANIEL KOKOTAJLO
BEAST – MICHAEL PEARCE
CALIBRE – MATT PALMER
PILI – LEANNE WELHAM
RAY & LIZ – RICHARD BILLINGHAM

DEBUT SCREENWRITER

AMERICAN ANIMALS – BART LAYTON
APOSTASY – DANIEL KOKOTAJLO
BEAST – MICHAEL PEARCE
CALIBRE – MATT PALMER
THE PARTY’S JUST BEGINNING – KAREN GILLAN

BEST DOCUMENTARY

BEING FRANK: THE CHRIS SIEVEY STORY – STEVE SULLIVAN
EVELYN – ORLANDO VON EINSIEDEL  /  JOANNA NATASEGARA
ISLAND – STEVEN EASTWOOD  /  ELHUM SHAKERIFAR
NAE PASARAN – FELIPE BUSTOS SIERRA
UNDER THE WIRE – CHRIS MARTIN  /  TOM BRISLEY

BREAKTHROUGH PRODUCER

APOSTASY – MARCIE MACLELLAN
BEAST – KRISTIAN BRODIE  /  LAUREN DARK  / IVANA MACKINNON
CALIBRE – ANNA GRIFFIN
RAY & LIZ – JACQUI DAVIES
STAN & OLLIE – FAYE WARD

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM

CAPERNAUM 
COLD WAR
THE RIDER
ROMA
SHOPLIFTERS

BEST CASTING

AMERICAN ANIMALS
APOSTASY
BEAST
THE FAVOURITE
STAN & OLLIE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

AMERICAN ANIMALS
THE FAVOURITE
LEAN ON PETE
A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

COLETTE
AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN
THE FAVOURITE
PETERLOO
STAN & OLLIE

BEST EDITING

AMERICAN ANIMALS
THE FAVOURITE
HAPPY NEW YEAR, COLIN BURSTEAD
A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

BEST MAKE-UP & HAIR DESIGN

COLETTE
THE FAVOURITE
PETERLOO
A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN
STAN & OLLIE

BEST MUSIC

AMERICAN ANIMALS
BEAST
FUNNY COW
ISLAND OF THE HUNGRY GHOSTS
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

COLETTE
THE FAVOURITE
PETERLOO
RAY & LIZ
STAN & OLLIE

BEST SOUND

AMERICAN ANIMALS
THE FAVOURITE
A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN
TIME TRIAL
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

BEST EFFECTS

DEAD IN A WEEK (OR YOUR MONEY BACK)
EARLY MAN
PETERLOO