BIFA 2012

The 5th of November saw the announcement of the 15th Moet British Independent Film Awards

The
5^th of November saw the announcement of the 15^th Moet
British Independent Film Awards. The ceremony has in the
past rewarded the likes of Michael
Fassbender, Colin Firth, and Carey Mulligan for their contributions
to independent cinema as well as bringing those barely known by the public at
large into the limelight.

Established to celebrate triumphant domestic cinema,
BIFA patrons include veteran British director Ken Loach, disarming Scottish award winning actor Ewan McGregor, Oscar winning Helen Mirren and A Mighty Heart director Michael
Winterbottom.

A large part of the ceremony’s appeal lies with its
recognition of talent that has been cast aside in the awards season earlier in
the year. In 2011, critic favourites We
Need to Talk About Kevin (picking up best director for Lynne Ramsay’s colourful and sinister adaptation,) Tyrannosaur (Best Actress went to the
brilliant Olivia Colman) and Shame (Fassbender’s grim portrayal of a
sex addict) were embraced happily where they barely received a BAFTA nod come
February, in spite of an exemplary year of UK film.

2012 marks another impressionable season of home
cinema, with debut acts and established names making up the nominations list. John Madden’s The Best Exotic Hotel
proved a huge success this year with Judi
Dench leading a pack of pensioners on a turbulent excursion, and she fills one
of the slots for Best Actress in this years awards, as well as Madden earning a nomination for Best Director, and Tom Wilkinson and Maggie
Smith appearing in supporting categories.

One of the most heated categories will no doubt be
Best Director this year, with the industry’s favourite newcomer Ben Wheatley nominated for his follow
up to last year’s grizzly Kill List
with an equally horrid Sightseers running
alongside Bart Layton who directed
shocker doc The Imposter and Rufus Norris for his debut film Broken (Main Picture).

Powerful names lead the Best Actress category, with
Dench joined by Meryl Streep for her
BAFTA and Oscar winning performance in The
Iron Lady, notable rising star Andrea
Riseborough for James Marsh’s Shadow
Dancer (Domhnall Gleeson is
also up for best supporting actor,) promising young thing Elle Fanning and Sightseers
Alice Lowe, who is also nominated for Best Screenplay as the writer of the
film.

Best International
Independent Film will be building a lot of interest also as Michael Haneke’s
Amour and Jacques Audiard’s
Rust and Bone run for the award, a battle that will no doubt be
revisited several times come awards season.

For the full list of nominees visit the BIFA homepage HERE

The awards will take place on the 9^th of
December with the full list of nominations below:

BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
Berberian Sound
Studio

Broken

Sightseers

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The Imposter

BEST DIRECTOR

Bart Layton – The Imposter

Ben Wheatley – Sightseers

John Madden – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Peter Strickland – Berberian Sound Studio

Rufus Norris – Broken

THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD [BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR]

Bart Layton – The Imposter

Ben Drew – Ill Manors

Rowan Athale – Wasteland

Rufus Norris – Broken

Sally El Hosaini – My Brother The Devil

BEST SCREENPLAY

Abi Morgan – The Iron Lady

Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Amy Jump – Sightseers

Mark O’Rowe – Broken

Paul Andrew Williams – Song For Marion

Peter Strickland – Berberian Sound Studio

BEST ACTRESS

Alice Lowe (Tina) – Sightseers

Andrea Riseborough (Colette McVeigh) – Shadow Dancer

Elle Fanning (Ginger) – Ginger &
Rosa

Judi Dench (Evelyn Greenslade) – The
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Meryl Streep (Margaret Thatcher) – The Iron Lady

BEST ACTOR

Riz Ahmed (Aaron) – Ill
Manors

Steve Oram (Chris) – Sightseers

Terence Stamp (Arthur) – Song For Marion

Tim Roth (Archie) – Broken

Toby Jones (Gilderoy) – Berberian Sound Studio

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Alice Englert (Rosa) – Ginger
& Rosa

Eileen Davies (Carol) – Sightseers

Maggie Smith (Muriel Donnelly) – The
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Olivia Colman (Queen Elizabeth) – Hyde Park On Hudson

Vanessa Redgrave (Marion) – Song For Marion

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Billy Connolly (Wilf) – Quartet

Cillian Murphy (Mike Kiernan) – Broken

Domhnall Gleeson (Connor) – Shadow Dancer

Rory Kinnear (Bob Oswald) – Broken

Tom Wilkinson (Graham Dashwood) – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER

Elliott Tittensor (Tits) – Spike Island

Eloise Laurence (Skunk) – Broken

James Floyd (Rashid) – My Brother the Devil

Paul Brannigan (Robbie) – The Angels’
Share

Zawe Ashton (Joyce Vincent) – Dreams Of A Life

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION

Berberian Sound Studio

The Sweeney

BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT

Nic Knowland Bsc– Cinematography – Berberian Sound Studio

Joakim Sundström, Stevie Haywood AMPS IPS– Sound Design – Berberian
Sound Studio

Electric Wave Bureau – Music – Broken

Robbie Ryan – Cinematography – Ginger & Rosa

Andrew Hulme – Editing – The Imposter

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Dreams Of A Life

BEST BRITISH SHORT

Friday

Volume

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM

Amour

The Hunt

THE RAINDANCE AWARD

Frank

Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet