British Independent Film Award Nominations | Aftersun leads the pack

The nominations for British Independent Film Awards have just been announced and Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun is currently the favourite with 16 nominations. 

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British Independent Film Awards, or BIFA, have just dropped their awards nominations. Charlotte Wells’ critically acclaimed debut feature Aftersun scored an impressive 16 nominations, including Best Film and Best Director.  Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean follows with 13 nominations, followed closely by The Wonder with 12. Living, Flux Gourmet, The Origin and Men were also recognised. Overall, 36 British films were recognised through the nominations.  As reported earlier, BIFA has abandoned gendered acting categories, instead simply recognising Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance. There’s also Best Joint Lead Performance and Best Ensemble Performance to allow for greater representation and to help films where there isn’t necessarily one lead.  As the entire industry still often struggles to nominate women, the BIFA nominations are a refreshing exception as women dominate most categories. Both in the Best Director and Best Debut Director, three out of the five nominees are women. Same goes for the Best Screenplay nominations.  Georgia Oakley (Blue Jean) and Charlotte Wells (Aftersun) are both nominated in all three categories.  The awards ceremony will take place December 4th. You can check out the full list of nominations below. 

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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

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

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 

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 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

ALFREDO DE JUAN Nascondino [Hide & Seek] 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 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 Effects

CHRIS MARSHALL The Feast DAVID SIMPSON Men AHMED YOUSRY Nezouh

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 Editing

JOANNA CRICKMAY Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts IZABELLA CURRY Blue Jean MÁTYÁS FEKETE Flux Gourmet MICK MAHON Nothing Compares BLAIR McCLENDON Aftersun

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 Music Supervision

LUCY BRIGHT Aftersun PHIL CANNING The Phantom of the Open RUPERT HOLLIER Living

Best Production Design

FLETCHER JARVIS Flux Gourmet GRANT MONTGOMERY The Wonder HELEN SCOTT Living BILLUR TURAN Aftersun GARY WILLIAMSON Medusa Deluxe