The Element Pictures-produced The Favourite leads the list of nominations for the 2018 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) announced this morning by British actors Ellie Bamber and Arinzé Kene at the Everyman Cinema, King’s Cross. Yorgos Lanthimos’s black comedy about the 18th century court of Queen Anne is recognised for Best British Independent Film, Best Director sponsored by Broadsword Event House and Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Films. Olivia Colman is nominated for Best Actress sponsored by MAC, with her co-stars in the female-led ensemble, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, competing in the Best Supporting Actress category, Weisz also receives a Best Actress nomination for Sebastian Lelio’s drama Disobedience, also produced by Element Pictures. The Favourite also sweeps the technical categories, newly introduced for the 2017 awards, with nominations for seven of the nine awards, including for Irish DoP Robbie Ryan for Best Cinematography supported by Blackmagic Design, as well as nods for Best Production Design, Best Make-up & Hair Design, and Best Costume Design.
The Best British Independent Film nominees are American Animals (11 nominations), Beast (10 nominations), Disobedience (5 nominations), The Favourite (13 nominations) and You Were Never Really Here (8 nominations). In addition to two of the nominatees being Irish productions, the nominations list demonstrates a record year for female representation, with over 40% of the individual nominations recognising women in the industry across directing, writing, producing, performance and craft. Female nominees make up over 50% of the talent nominated for Best British Independent Film and dominate both Most Promising Newcomer and Breakthrough Producer supported by Creativity Media, with four out of five nominations for each award. Over 140 British films were submitted for consideration and 37 different British feature films have been nominated across the BIFA categories.
It is a tremendous day for Ireland’s Element Pictures and this is an honour richly deserved. Two of the five Best Film nominees are Element titles and they have received nominations in essentially every category. Screen Ireland is incredibly proud to have worked with Element down through the years on films such as the Oscar®-winning Room, Cannes favourite The Lobster and of course one of the most commercially successful Irish films of the last decade, The Guard. We wish them every success for this year’s BIFAs.
James Hickey, Chief Executive – Screen Ireland
The broad recognition for American Animals and You Were Never Really Here marks the return of previous award winners, writer-directors Lynne Ramsay and Bart Layton. Layton won Best Debut Director for his documentary The Imposter in 2012 and his true-crime heist drama American Animals secures him nominations for Best Director and for both Best Screenplay and Debut Screenwriter. The film sees Evan Peters and Irish actor Barry Keoghan compete in the Best Supporting Actor category, marking their first BIFA nominations. Ramsay continues her long association with BIFA, with her third nomination for Best Screenplay and her second for Best Director, following past recognition for Ratcatcher, Morvern Callar and We Need To Talk About Kevin. Joaquin Phoenix secures his second BIFA Best Actor nomination for his role as a tortured hitman in the psychological noir thriller, with Jonny Greenwood and Tom Townsend being recognised for Best Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group and Best Cinematography respectively.
Northern Irish drama The Dig, directed by Andy Tohill and Ryan Tohill, written by Stuart Drennan, and produced by Brian J. Falconer competes for The Discovery Award. The film won Best Irish Feature at the Galway Film Fleadh earlier this year. In addition Irish production designer John Paul Kelly has been nominated for his work on Stan & Ollie.
Following a breakout year for British directorial debuts at the 2017 awards, this year’s nominations list continues the trend with acclaim for Michael Pearce’s romantic thriller Beast and Daniel Kokotajlo’s Apostasy, a sensitive drama set within the Jehovah’s Witness community. In addition to its Best British Independent Film nomination, Beast receives nods for Pearce in all directing and screenwriting categories: Best Director, Best Screenplay, Debut Screenwriter and The Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director sponsored by Kodak & Pinewood. Irish actor Jessie Buckley receives nominations for both Best Actress and Most Promising Newcomer, alongside Apostasy’s Molly Wright who also receives nods in both categories. Kokotajlo features alongside Pearce with nominations for Best Debut Director and Debut Screenwriter.
Joe Cole (A Prayer Before Dawn), Rupert Everett (The Happy Prince) and Charlie Plummer (Lean on Pete) all feature in the Best Actor category as first time BIFA nominees, alongside Steve Coogan (Stan & Ollie) and Joaquin Phoenix. Gemma Arterton (The Escape) and Maxine Peake (Funny Cow) round out the Best Actress category with Peake making her debut on the list.
The Richard Harris Award and The Variety Award are to be announced in November. The Richard Harris Award, introduced in 2002 in honour of Richard Harris, recognises outstanding contribution to British Film by an actor. Previous winners have been Daniel Day Lewis, Julie Walters, John Hurt, Emma Thompson and Vanessa Redgrave in 2017. The Variety Award recognises a director, actor, writer or producer who has made a global impact and helped focus the international spotlight on the UK. Past winners include Kate Winslet, Richard Curtis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sir Michael Caine and Dame Helen Mirren.
The winners will be announced at the much anticipated awards ceremony to be held on Sunday December 2nd in central London.
Full list of nominations
Best British Independent Film
- American Animals, Bart Layton, Katherine Butler, Dimitri Doganis, Derrin Schlesinger, Mary Jane Skalski
- Beast, Michael Pearce, Kristian Brodie, Lauren Dark, Ivana Mackinnon
- Disobedience, Frida Torresblanco, Sebastián Lelio, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Ed Guiney, Rachel Weisz
- The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos, Deborah Davis, Tony Mcnamara, Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday
- You Were Never Really Here, Lynne Ramsay, Pascal Caucheteux, Rosa Attab, James Wilson, Rebecca O’Brien
Best Director
- Andrew Haigh, Lean On Pete
- Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite
- Bart Layton, American Animals
- Michael Pearce, Beast
- Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here
Best Screenplay
- Deborah Davis, Tony Mcnamara, The Favourite
- Bart Layton, American Animals
- Sebastián Lelio, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Disobedience
- Michael Pearce, Beast
- Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here
Best Actress
- Gemma Arterton, The Escape
- Jessie Buckley, Beast
- Olivia Colman, The Favourite
- Maxine Peake, Funny Cow
- Rachel Weisz, Disobedience
Best Actor
- Joe Cole, A Prayer Before Dawn
- Steve Coogan, Stan & Ollie
- Rupert Everett, The Happy Prince
- Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here
- Charlie Plummer, Lean On Pete
Best Supporting Actress
- Nina Arianda, Stan & Ollie
- Rachel McAdams, Disobedience
- Emma Stone, The Favourite
- Rachel Weisz, The Favourite
- Molly Wright, Apostasy
Best Supporting Actor
- Steve Buscemi, Lean On Pete
- Barry Keoghan, American Animals
- Alessandro Nivola, Disobedience
- Evan Peters, American Animals
- Dominic West, Colette
Most Promising Newcomer
- Jessie Buckley, Beast
- Michaela Coel, Been So Long
- Liv Hill, Jellyfish
- Marcus Rutherford, Obey
- Molly Wright, Apostasy
The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)
- Richard Billingham, Ray & Liz
- Daniel Kokotajlo, Apostasy
- Matt Palmer, Calibre
- Michael Pearce, Beast
- Leanne Welham, Pili
Debut Screenwriter
- Karen Gillan, The Party’s Just Beginning
- Daniel Kokotajlo, Apostasy
- Bart Layton, American Animals
- Matt Palmer, Calibre
- Michael Pearce, Beast
Breakthrough Producer
- Kristian Brodie, Beast
- Jacqui Davies, Ray & Liz
- Anna Griffin, Calibre
- Marcie Maclellan, Apostasy
- Faye Ward, Stan & Ollie
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
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, Christopher Martin, Tom Brisley
Best British Short Film
- The Big Day, Dawn Shadforth, Kellie Smith, Michelle Stein
- Bitter Sea, Fateme Ahmadi, Emma Parsons
- The Field, Sandhya Suri, Balthazar De Ganay, Thomas Bidegain Pommel Paris Zarcilla, Sebastian Brown, Ivan Kelava
- To Know Him, Ted Evans, Kellie Smith, Jennifer Monks, Michelle Stein
Best International Independent Film
- Capernaum, Nadine Labaki, Jihad Hojeily, Michelle Keserwani, Khaled Mouzanar, Michel Merkt
- Cold War, Pawel Pawlikowski, Janusz Glowacki, Ewa Puszczynska, Tanya Seghatchian
- The Rider, Chloé Zhao, Mollye Asher, Sacha Ben Harroche, Bert Hamelinck
- ROMA, Alfonso Cuarón, Nicolás Celis, Gabriela Rodriguez
- Shoplifters, Hirokazu Koreeda
Best Casting
- Dixie Chassay, The Favourite
- Julie Harkin, Beast
- Avy Kaufman, American Animals
- Andy Pryor, Stan & Ollie
- Michelle Smith, Apostasy
Best Costume Design
- Jacqueline Durran, Peterloo
- Andrea Flesch, Colette
- Sandy Powell, The Favourite
- Guy Sperenza, Stan & Ollie
- Alyssa Tull, An Evening With Beverly Luff Lin
Best Cinematography
- Ole Bratt Birkeland, American Animals
- Magnus Nordenhof Jønk, Lean On Pete
- Robbie Ryan, The Favourite
- Tom Townend, You Were Never Really Here
- David Ungaro, A Prayer Before Dawn
Best Editing
- Joe Bini, You Were Never Really Here
- Marc Boucrot, A Prayer Before Dawn
- Nick Fenton, Julian Hart, Chris Gill, American Animals
- Yorgos Mavropsaridis, The Favourite
- Ben Wheatley, Happy New Year, Colin Burstead
Best Effects
- Howard Jones, Early Man
- Matthew Strange, Mark Wellband, Dead In A Week (Or Your Money Back)
- George Zwier, Paul Driver, Peterloo
Best Make Up & Hair Design
- Christine Blundell, Peterloo
- Mark Coulier, Jeremy Woodhead, Stan & Ollie
- Stacey Louise Holman, A Prayer Before Dawn
- Ivana Primorac, Colette
- Nadia Stacey, The Favourite
Best Music
- Aaron Cupples, Island Of The Hungry Ghosts
- Jonny Greenwood, You Were Never Really Here
- Richard Hawley, Funny Cow
- Anne Nikitin, American Animals
- Jim Williams, Beast
Best Production Design
- Michael Carlin, Colette
- Fiona Crombie, The Favourite
- Suzie Davies, Peterloo
- John Paul Kelly, Stan & Ollie
- Beck Rainford, Ray & Liz
Best Sound
- Johnnie Burn, The Favourite
- Paul Davies, You Were Never Really Here
- Séverin Favriau, A Prayer Before Dawn
- Cj Mirra, Time Trial
- Andrew Stirk, American Animals