The British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) nominations were unveiled Thursday morninh by star hosts Susan Wokoma and Morfydd Clark at One Hundred Shoreditch, London.
“Casting a spotlight on the incredible talent working in the British film industry, this year’s list once again includes exceptional debuts from the U.K.’s brightest new talent alongside previous BIFA nominees, such as Tilda Swinton, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell and Amir El-Masr,” the organization said.
Leading the nominations with 16 is Rye Lane, Raine Allen-Miller’s London-set romantic comedy following a pair of semi-reluctant lovers on an impromptu tour of Peckham. Among others, it scores nominations for Allen-Miller for best director and best debut director, best screenplay debut screenwriter for writing duo Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia, as well as a best joint lead performance nom for stars Vivian Oparah and David Jonsson. Oparah is also nominated in the breakthrough performance category. Rye Lane is also in the running for Best British Independent Film and eight craft categories.
Scrapper, the uplifting story of a grieving young girl as she negotiates the reappearance of an absent father she doesn’t want, but just might need, received 14 nominations overall. That includes four for debut feature filmmaker Charlotte Regan: best director, best screenplay, best debut director and best debut screenwriter, but also for best British independent film. The film also earned noms for best joint lead performance for stars Harris Dickinson and Lola Campbell, who also scored a nod in the breakthrough performance category.
BIFA veteran Andrew Haigh returns with All of Us Strangers, an unsettling tale of a writer drawn back to his past and towards a mysterious new relationship, which also received 14 nominations. They include best director, best screenplay for Haigh and best British independent film. In the performance categories Andrew Scott picked up a best lead performance nomination, while Jamie Bell, Claire Foy and Paul Mescal grabbed best supporting performance nods.
Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature, How to Have Sex, earned 13 nominations, while Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s debut feature Femme 11, and Mahalia Belo’s debut feature The End We Start From nine.
Check out the full lists of nominations below.
The Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film
To be announced
Best British Independent Film
ALL OF US STRANGERS Andrew Haigh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey
FEMME Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping, Myles Payne, Sam Ritzenberg
HOW TO HAVE SEX Molly Manning Walker, Ivana MacKinnon, Emily Leo, Konstantinos Kontovrakis
RYE LANE Raine Allen-Miller, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo, Damian Jones
SCRAPPER Charlotte Regan, Theo Barrowclough
Best International Independent Film, sponsored by Champagne Taittinger
ANATOMY OF A FALL Justine Triet, Arthur Harari, Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion
FALLEN LEAVES Aki Kauriskmäki
FREMONT Babak Jalali, Carolina Cavalli, Marjaneh Moghimi, Sudnya Shroff, Rachael Fung
MONSTER Hirokazu Kore-Eda, Yuji Sakamoto, Genki Kawamura, Kenji Yamada
PAST LIVES Celine Song, David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler
Best Director, sponsored by Sky Cinema R
AINE ALLEN-MILLER Rye Lane
SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme
ANDREW HAIGH All of Us Strangers
MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex
CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper
Best Lead Performance
JODIE COMER The End We Start From
MIA MCKENNA-BRUCE How to Have Sex
TIA NOMORE Earth Mama
NABHAAN RIZWAN In Camera
ANDREW SCOTT All of Us Strangers
TILDA SWINTON The Eternal Daughter
Best Screenplay, sponsored by Apple Original Films NATHAN BRYON, TOM MELIA Rye Lane
SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme
ANDREW HAIGH All of Us Strangers
MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex
CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper
Best Supporting Performance
RITU ARYA Polite Society
JAMIE BELL All of Us Strangers
SAMUEL BOTTOMLEY How to Have Sex
ALEXANDRA BURKE Pretty Red Dress
AMIR EL-MASRY In Camera
CLAIRE FOY All of Us Strangers
PAUL MESCAL All of Us Strangers
ALIA SHAWKAT Drift
SHAUN THOMAS How to Have Sex
KATHERINE WATERSON The End We Start From
Best Joint Lead Performance
LOLA CAMPBELL, HARRIS DICKINSON Scrapper
DAVID JONSSON, VIVIAN OPARAH Rye Lane
NATHAN STEWART-JARRETT, GEORGE MACKAY Femme
The Douglas Hickox Award (for best debut director), sponsored by BBC Film
RAINE ALLEN-MILLER Rye Lane
SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme
SAVANAH LEAF Earth Mama
MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex
CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper
Breakthrough Producer, sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios
THEO BARROWCLOUGH Scrapper GEORGIA GOGGIN Pretty Red Dress
YVONNE ISIMEME IBAZEBO Rye Lane [also produced by Damian Jones]
GANNESH RAJAH If the Streets Were on Fire
CHI THAI Raging Grace
Breakthrough Performance, sponsored by Netflix
LE’SHANTEY BONSU Girl
LOLA CAMPBELL Scrapper
PRIYA KANSARA Polite Society
MIA MCKENNA-BRUCE How to Have Sex
VIVIAN OPARAH Rye Lane
Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary
CHLOE ABRAHAMS The Taste of Mango
SOPHIE COMPTON, REUBEN HAMLYN Another Body
ELLA GLENDINING Is There Anybody Out There?
ALICE RUSSELL If the Streets Were on Fire
CHRISTOPHER SHARP Bobi Wine: The People’s President [also directed by Moses Bwayo]
Best Debut Screenwriter, sponsored by Film4
NATHAN BRYON, TOM MELIA Rye Lane
SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme
MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex
NIDA MANZOOR Polite Society
CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper
The Raindance Maverick Award
IF THE STREETS WERE ON FIRE Alice Russell, Gannesh Rajah
IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE? Ella Glendining, Janine Marmot
NAME ME LAWAND Edward Lovelace
RAGING GRACE Paris Zarcilla, Chi Thai
RED HERRING Kit Vincent, Ed Owles
Best Feature Documentary, sponsored by Intermission Film
ANOTHER BODY Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn, Isabel Freeman, Elizabeth Woodward
BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp, John Battsek
IF THE STREETS WERE ON FIRE Alice Russell, Gannesh Rajah
LYRA Alison Millar, Jackie Doyle
OCCUPIED CITY Steve McQueen, Bianca Stitger, Floor Onrust, Anna Smith-Tenser
Best British Short Film
CHRISTOPHER AT SEA Tom C J Brown, Laure Desmazières, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron, Amanda Miller, Hannah Stolarski, Nick Read, Emily-Jane Brown
FESTIVAL OF SLAPS Abdou Cissé, Cheri Darbon, George Telfer
LIONS Beru Tessema, Ama Ampadu
MUNA Warda Mohamed, Angela Moneke, Simon Hatton
THE TALENT Thomas May Bailey, Emma D’Arcy, Ellen Spence
