Irish Abroad: Irish lead nominations for 18th Moët British Independent Film Awards

The Irish dominate the nominees for the Moët British Independent Film Awards, announced this morning. Irish co-production The Lobster leads the pack with 7 nominations, for Best British Independent Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Producer of the Year. Colin Farrell is nominated for Best Actor, with Olivia Colman and Ben Whishaw nominated for their supporting roles.

[quote title=”Ed Guiney – Element Pictures, Producer – The Lobster”]We are so thrilled that The Lobster has been recognised by the BIFAs with 7 nominations; it’s a huge testament to Yorgos and our amazing cast and crew. We are also delighted that Room has been nominated as best international film.[/quote]

Other Irish nominees include Lenny Abrahamson’s Room in Best International Feature and Michael Fassbender for Best Actor in Macbeth. Father and son Brendan and Domhnall Gleeson are both nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Suffragette and Brooklyn, respectively. Brooklyn’s other nominations come for Nick Hornby’s Screenplay and for Best Actress Saoirse Ronan and Best Supporting Actress Julie Walters. The film’s Casting is also nominated, in the Outstanding Achievement in Craft category.

Amy Jump’s Screenplay for the Northern Irish co-production High-Rise, adapted from the novel by JG Ballard, is nominated. The film’s cast are recognised too: Tom Hiddleston is nominated for Best Actor, Sienna Miller for Supporting Actress and Luke Evans for Supporting Actor.

There were six nominations each for 45 Years and Macbeth include Best British Independent Film and Best Director. 45 Years also has nominations for its screenplay, for Producer of the Year, and for its stars Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard are nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress and Macduff, Sean Harris, for Best Supporting Actor. The film’s Cinematography also gets a nod.

Asif Kapadia’s Amy Winehouse documentary, Amy, has five nominations, for Director, Documentary, Producer of the Year, for its Editing and for Best British Independent Film.

Completing the Best British Independent Film line up is Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, which is nominated for Director and Screenplay. The film’s Production Design and Visual Effects are also recognised.

Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne-Marie Duff are all nominated for their performances in Suffragette. Alicia Vikander is nominated for Best Actress for her performance in The Danish Girl. Tom Hardy is nominated for Best Actor for his performance as both Kray twins in Legend.

There are five first-time performance nominees this year (Charlotte Rampling, Tom Courtenay, Tom Hiddleston, Marion Cotillard and Luke Evans) and nine past winners: Tom Hardy, Brendan Gleeson Anne-Marie Duff, Olivia Colman, Michael Fassbender, Helena Bonham Carter, Julie Walters and Ben Whishaw, who was BIFA’s Most Promising Newcomer in 2001.

This year’s Most Promising Newcomers are Agyness Deyn for Sunset Song, Mia Goth for Northern Irish director Stephen Fingleton’s The Survivalist, Abigail Hardingham for Nina Forever, Milo Parker for Mr Holmes, and Bel Powley for A Royal Night Out. Nina Forever and The Survivalist are both nominated for The Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director for directors The Blaine Brothers and Stephen Fingleton.  The other first-time directors nominated are John Maclean for Slow West, Corin Hardy for teh Irish co-production The Hallow and Paul Katis for Kajaki: The True Story, which is also nominated for Producer of the Year. The Violators is also nominated for Producer of the Year.

Nominated for Best Documentary along with Amy, are Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance, How to Change the World, Palio and A Syrian Love Story.

The nominations for the new Discovery Award, which recognises innovation and vision in lower-budget films, are Aaaaaaaah!, Burn Burn Burn, Orion: The Man Who Would Be King, The Return and Winter. More information on these, and all the nominated films, is available on www.bifa.film.

[quote title=”Laurence Green – Chairman of the BIFA Board”]BIFA’s committed voters watched over 260 films this year – more than ever.  After thousands of hours of viewing, nearly 30 jury meetings and two rounds of voting, their nominations cover a breathtaking range of British films and filmmaking talent. With the support of the BFI, BIFA is delighted to be making it possible for the public to see these films before the winners are announced, bringing them to cinemas right across the UK and so giving audiences the chance to discover the very best of British film for themselves.[/quote]

The winners will be announced at The Moët British Independent Film Awards on Sunday 6 December at Old Billingsgate. The event will be live streamed on www.bifa.film

Full list of nominees:

Best British Independent Film (Sponsored by Moët & Chandon)
45 Years
Amy
Ex Machina
The Lobster
Macbeth

Best Actor(Sponsored by Movado)
Colin FarrellThe Lobster
Michael FassbenderMacbeth
Tom Courtenay – 45 Years
Tom Hardy – Legend
Tom Hiddleston – High-Rise

Best Supporting Actor
Ben Whishaw – The Lobster
Brendan GleesonSuffragette
Domhnall GleesonBrooklyn
Luke Evans – High-Rise
Sean Harris – Macbeth

Best Actress (Sponsored by M.A.C Cosmetics)
Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl
Carey Mulligan – Suffragette
Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years
Marion Cotillard – Macbeth
Saoirse RonanBrooklyn

Best Supporting Actress
Anne Marie Duff – Suffragette
Helena Bonham Carter – Suffragette
Julie Walters – Brooklyn
Olivia Colman – The Lobster
Sienna Miller – High-Rise

Best Director
45 Years – Andrew Haigh
Amy – Asif Kapadia
Ex Machina – Alex Garland
The Lobster – Yorgos Lanthimos
Macbeth – Justin Kurzel

Best Documentary
Amy
Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance
How to Change the World
Palio
A Syrian Love Story

The Douglas Hickox Award – Debut Director (Sponsored by 3 Mills Studios)
The Hallow – Corin Hardy
Kajaki: The True Story – Paul Katis
Nina Forever – Chris Blaine, Ben Blaine
Slow West – John Maclean
The SurvivalistStephen Fingleton

Best Screenplay (Sponsored by BBC Films)
45 Years – Andrew Haigh
Brooklyn – Nick Hornby
Ex Machina – Alex Garland
High-Rise – Amy Jump
The Lobster – Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou

Most Promising Newcomer (Sponsored by The London EDITION)
Mr Holmes
Nina Forever
A Royal Night Out
Sunset Song
The Survivalist

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
Editing – Chris King Amy
Casting – Fiona Weir Brooklyn
Production Design – Mark Digby Ex Machina
VFX – Andrew Whitehurst Ex Machina
Cinematography – Adam Arkapaw Macbeth

The Discovery Award (Sponsored by Raindance)
Aaaaaaaah!
Burn Burn Burn
Orion: The Man Who Would Be King
The Return
Winter

Best British Short
Balcony
Crack
Edmond
Love Is Blind
MANoMAN

Best International Independent Film
Carol
Force Majeure
Girlhood
Room
Son of Saul