The same five films will be up against each other in three of the main categories at this year’s British Independent Film Awards. Aftersun, Living, Blue Jean, The Wonder and Good Luck To You, Leo Grande have all been nominated for Best British Independent Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay.
Many of the films’ stars are also in the running for a range of new acting awards. Separate categories for men and women have been abolished, in favour of a number of new contests, including Best Lead Performance, Best Supporting Performance, Best Joint Lead Performance for films centred on two actors and Best Ensemble Performance, recognising the entire cast.
As one of the first awards ceremonies of the season – on either side of the Atlantic – BIFA is often an early sign of which lower budget films might pick up momentum, but having a new set of acting categories protects the organisers from suggestions that they’ve “got it wrong.”
BIFA is following a number of other entertainment bodies that’s dropped gender-specific prizes. Its eight nominees for Best Lead Performance include Living’s Bill Nighy, Florence Pugh from The Wonder, Blue Jean’s Rosy McEwen, Sally Hawkins for The Lost King and Emily’s Emma Mackey.
The five contenders for the Ensemble prize – a category used by America’s Screen Actors Guild – are Blue Jean, Emily, Flux Gourmet, The Wonder and Our River… Our Sky.
The more unusual category of Best Joint Lead will see Aftersun’s Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio up against Dame Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack for Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, Men’s Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear – and Tamara Lawrance and Letitia Wright for The Silent Twins.
The British Independent Film Awards give particular prominence to film-makers at the start of their career, with a number of categories reserved for first-timers. Aftersun’s Charlotte Wells and Blue Jean’s Georgia Oakley are both in the running for the Best Debut Director prize, as well as the Best Director award. In the debut category, they’re also up against Emily’s Frances O’Connor, Andrew Cumming for The Origin and Thomas Hardiman for Medusa Deluxe.
Oakley and Wells are also among the nominees for the Best Debut Screenwriter award, alongside David Earl and Chris Hayward for the mockumentary Brian and Charles, whose producer Rupert Majendie is up against Blue Jean’s Helen Sifre in the Breakthrough Producer category.
In its 25th year celebrating low budget British films, the BIFA’s have recognised 36 features in the nominations, with Aftersun, Blue Jean, The Wonder and Living collecting the most nods. The winners will be announced, from the following full list of nominees, on 4th December.
Best British Independent Film
AFTERSUN Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson
BLUE JEAN Georgia Oakley, Hélène Sifre
GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE Sophie Hyde, Katy Brand, Debbie Gray, Adrian Politowski
LIVING Oliver Hermanus, Kazuo Ishiguro, Stephen Woolley, Elizabeth Karlsen
THE WONDER Sebastián Lelio, Emma Donoghue, Alice Birch, Juliette Howell, Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross, Ed Guiney
Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema
OLIVER HERMANUS Living
SOPHIE HYDE Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
SEBASTIÁN LELIO The Wonder
GEORGIA OAKLEY Blue Jean
CHARLOTTE WELLS Aftersun
Best Screenplay
KATY BRAND Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
KAZUO ISHIGURO Living
SEBASTIÁN LELIO, ALICE BIRCH, EMMA DONOGHUE The Wonder
GEORGIA OAKLEY Blue Jean
CHARLOTTE WELLS Aftersun
Best Lead Performance
SALLY HAWKINS The Lost King
COSMO JARVIS It Is in Us All
EMMA MACKEY Emily
ROSY McEWEN Blue Jean
BILL NIGHY Living
FLORENCE PUGH The Wonder
EMILY WATSON God’s Creatures
HALA ZEIN Nezouh
Best Supporting Performance
ZOEY DEUTCH The Outfit
AISLING FRANCIOSI God’s Creatures
LUCY HALLIDAY Blue Jean
KERRIE HAYES Blue Jean
ZAINAB JODA Our River… Our Sky
FATMA MOHAMED Flux Gourmet
PAUL MESCAL God’s Creatures
FIONN WHITEHEAD Emily
AIMEE LOU WOOD Living
Best Joint Lead Performance
FRANKIE CORIO, PAUL MESCAL Aftersun
DARYL McCORMACK, EMMA THOMPSON Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
JESSIE BUCKLEY, RORY KINNEAR Men
TAMARA LAWRANCE, LETITIA WRIGHT The Silent Twins
Best Ensemble Performance
BLUE JEAN Ensemble including Rosy McEwen, Kerrie Hayes, Lucy Halliday, Lydia Page, Stacy Abalogun, Farrah Cave, Amy Booth-Steel
EMILY Ensemble including Amelia Gething, Emma Mackey, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Fionn Whitehead, Alexandra Dowling, Gemma Jones, Adrian Dunbar
FLUX GOURMET Ensemble including Makis Papadimitriou, Gwendoline Christie, Asa Butterfield, Fatma Mohamed, Ariane Labed, Richard Bremmer
OUR RIVER… OUR SKY Ensemble including Zainab Joda, Darina Al Joundi, Amed Hashimi, Mahmoud Abo Al Abbas, Basim Hajar, Labwa Arab, Meriam Abbas, Siham Mustafa
THE WONDER Ensemble including Kíla Lord Cassidy, Florence Pugh, Tom Burke, Toby Jones, Niamh Algar, Elaine Cassidy, Ciarán Hinds, Brían F. O’Byrne, Josie Walker
The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by BBC Film
ANDREW CUMMING The Origin
THOMAS HARDIMAN Medusa Deluxe
FRANCES O’CONNOR Emily
GEORGIA OAKLEY Blue Jean
CHARLOTTE WELLS Aftersun
Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios
ALEKSANDRA BILIĆ, JENNIFER CORCORAN Nascondino [Hide & Seek]
PAUL KENNEDY Nightride [also produced by Jon Silk]
RUPERT MAJENDIE Brian and Charles
NADIRA MURRAY Winners [also produced by Paul Welsh]
HÉLÈNE SIFRE Blue Jean
Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix
FRANKIE CORIO Aftersun
LEO LONG I Used to Be Famous
KÍLA LORD CASSIDY The Wonder
ROSY McEWEN Blue Jean
SAFIA OAKLEY-GREEN The Origin
Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4
SHANE CROWLEY God’s Creatures
DAVID EARL, CHRIS HAYWARD Brian and Charles
RUTH GREENBERG The Origin
GEORGIA OAKLEY Blue Jean
CHARLOTTE WELLS Aftersun
Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary
KATHRYN FERGUSON Nothing Compares
VICTORIA FIORE Nascondino [Hide & Seek]
LEAH GORDON, EDDIE HUTTON MILLS Kanaval
JONO McLEOD My Old School
BECKY HUTNER Fashion Reimagined
The Raindance Discovery Award
ELECTRIC MALADY Marie Lidén, Aimara Reques
FADIA’S TREE Sarah Beddington, Susan Simnett
OFF THE RAILS Peter Day, Grant Keir, Rob Alexander
REBELLION Elena Sánchez Bellot, Maia Kenworthy, Kat Mansoor
WINNERS Hassan Nazer, Nadira Murray, Paul Welsh
Best Feature Documentary sponsored by Intermission
MY CHILDHOOD, MY COUNTRY – 20 YEARS IN AFGHANISTAN Phil Grabsky, Shoaib Sharifi, Amanda Wilkie
MY OLD SCHOOL Jono McLeod, John Archer, Olivia Lichtenstein
NASCONDINO [HIDE & SEEK] Victoria Fiore, Jennifer Corcoran, Aleksandra Bilić
NOTHING COMPARES Kathryn Ferguson, Eleanor Emptage, Michael Mallie
YOUNG PLATO Neasa Ní Chianáin, Declan McGrath, David Rane
Best British Short Film supported by BFI Network
A FOX IN THE NIGHT Keeran Anwar Blessie, Benjamin Jacob Smith
HONESTY Roxy Rezvany, Emily Renée, Elly Camisa
SANDSTORM Seemab Gul, Abid Aziz Merchant
SCALE Joseph Pierce, Hélène Mitjavile
TOO ROUGH Sean Lìonadh, Ross McKenzie, Alfredo Covelli
Best International Independent Film sponsored by Champagne Taittinger
ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov,
CLOSE Lukas Dhont, Angelo Tijssens, Michiel Dhont, Dirk Impens
DECISION TO LEAVE Park Chan-Wook, Chung Seo-Kyung
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Mike Larocca
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Thomas Robsahm
Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight
SHAHEEN BAIG Blue Jean
LEILA BERTRAND Our River… Our Sky
KHARMEL COCHRANE The Silent Twins
KAHLEEN CRAWFORD Living
LUCY PARDEE Aftersun
Best Cinematography sponsored by Dirty Looks & Kodak
NASCONDINO [HIDE & SEEK] Alfredo de Juan
ROB HARDY Men
JOEL HONEYWELL Kanaval
GREGORY OKE Aftersun
ARI WEGNER The Wonder
Best Costume Design
JENNY BEAVAN Mrs Harris Goes to Paris
SAFFRON CULLANE Flux Gourmet
ODILE DICKS-MIREAUX The Wonder
FRANK GALLACHER Aftersun
SANDY POWELL Living
Best Editing
JOANNA CRICKMAY Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts
IZABELLA CURRY Blue Jean
MÁTYÁS FEKETE Flux Gourmet
MICK MAHON Nothing Compares
BLAIR McCLENDON Aftersun
Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing
DANNY BENSI, SAUNDER JURRIAANS
God’s Creatures
OLIVER COATES Aftersun
MATTHEW HERBERT The Wonder
ADAM JANOTA BZOWSKI The Origin
BEN SALISBURY, GEOFF BARROW Men
Best Make-Up & Hair Design
OYA AYGÖR, MURAT ÇAĞIN Aftersun
MORNA FERGUSON, LORRI ANN KING
The Wonder
SIOBHAN HARPER-RYAN Flux Gourmet
NIAMH MORRISON The Origin
EUGENE SOULEIMAN, SCARLETT O’CONNELL Medusa Deluxe
Best Effects
CHRIS MARSHALL The Feast
DAVID SIMPSON Men
AHMED YOUSRY Nezouh
Best Music Supervision
LUCY BRIGHT Aftersun
PHIL CANNING The Phantom of the Open
RUPERT HOLLIER Living
Best Sound supported by Halo
TIM HARRISON, RAOUL BRAND, CASSANDRA RUTLEDGE Flux Gourmet
GLENN FREEMANTLE, BEN BARKER, GILLIAN DODDERS, HOWARD BARGOFF, MITCH LOW Men
JOVAN AJDER Aftersun
HUGH FOX, BEN BAIRD The Wonder
DOM CORBISIERO, DAI SHELL The Feast
Best Production Design
FLETCHER JARVIS Flux Gourmet
GRANT MONTGOMERY The Wonder
HELEN SCOTT Living
BILLUR TURAN Aftersun
GARY WILLIAMSON Medusa Deluxe