The British Independant Film Awards 2022 Nominations Announced!

The 25th British Independent Film Awards nominations see Aftersun, and Blue Jean lead the field in the race for the awards.

The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) announced the 2022 nominees this morning, with hosts Sam Claflin and BIFA winner Kosar Ali revealing the list of exceptional contenders at the Everyman Broadgate event. Once again, this year’s nominees highlight the wealth of talent within the British film industry, with 2022’s list featuring acclaimed debuts alongside previous BIFA recipients such as Emma Thompson, Jessie Buckley, Florence Pugh, and Alice Birch, in a strong year for women filmmakers and performers. Brand new performance categories and the addition of a category for first-time documentary feature directors mean even more to celebrate in BIFA’s 25th anniversary year.

LEADING THE NOMINATIONS

Leading the nominations, Aftersun, Charlotte Wells’ poignant portrait of a father and daughter’s complex relationship receives nominations for Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema, Best Screenplay, the Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by BBC Film, and Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4 for Wells, a Best Joint Lead Performance nomination for stars Paul Mescal and newcomer Frankie Corio, who also received a Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix nomination, alongside a Best British Independent Film nod.

A further nine craft nominations – Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight, Best Cinematography sponsored by Dirty Looks & Kodak, Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Make-up & Hair Design, Best Production Design, Best Sound supported by Halo, Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing and a nomination in the new Best Music Supervision category make a total of 16.

BLUE JEAN

Set in late 80s Britain against the backdrop of Thatcher’s anti-gay Section 28 ruling, Georgia Oakley’s debut film Blue Jean follows a young school teacher forced to lead a double life. Blue Jean’s 13 nominations include Best British Independent Film and Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema, Best Screenplay, Best Debut Director sponsored by BBC Film and Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4 for Oakley, Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios for Hélène Sifre.

Best Lead Performance and Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix nominations for Rosy McEwen, Best Supporting Performance nominations for Kerrie Hayes and Lucy Halliday, and a Best Ensemble Performance nomination for the film. For craft, a Best Editing nomination sits alongside Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight for Shaheen Baig, a constant in the BIFA spotlight for her work.

THE WONDER

Nominated for a BIFA Best Screenplay award in 2018 for Disobedience, Sebastián Lelio picks up the same nomination for The Wonder, a 19th-century thriller focussing on a young Irish girl whose fasting is hailed as miraculous, but maybe something more ominous…. The nomination is shared with BIFA winners Alice Birch and Emma Donoghue, on whose book the screenplay is based. Lelio also adds a Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema nod. 2017 Best Actress winner Florence Pugh is nominated for Best Lead Performance, Kíla Lord Cassidy is nominated for Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix, additional cast members including Tom Burke, Toby Jones, Niamh Algar, Elaine Cassidy, Ciarán Hinds, Brían F. O’Byrne and Josie Walker join them in a Best Ensemble Performance nomination.

Craft nominations include Best Cinematography sponsored by Dirty Looks & Kodak, Best Costume Design, Best Make-Up & Hair Design, Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing, Best Production Design, and Best Sound supported by Halo for Hugh Fox and BIFA winner Ben Baird, who earned this award in 2020 for his work on The Reason I Jump. The Wonder is also up for Best British Independent Film.

LIVING

An adaptation of Kurosawa’s Ikiru, perfectly transposed to 1950s London, Living gets a Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema nomination for Oliver Hermanus, previously nominated for this award in 2019 for Moffie, and a Best Screenplay nomination for acclaimed writer Kazuo Ishiguro. Bill Nighy scores a Best Lead Performance nomination and Aimee Lou Wood Best Supporting Performance. Living is also nominated in four craft categories, Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight, Best Costume Design, Best Music Supervision, and Best Production Design, as well as Best British Independent Film, making nine nominations in total.

FLUX GOURMET

A deliciously entertaining tale of art, lust, ego, and sonic catering, 2012 Best Director BIFA winner Peter Strickland’s Flux Gourmet received seven nominations including Best Supporting Performance for Fatma Mohamed, Best Ensemble Performance for its cast including Makis Papadimitriou, Gwendoline Christie, Asa Butterfield, Fatma Mohamed, Ariane Labed and Richard Bremmer and a further five craft nominations – Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Make-Up, and Hair Design, Best Production Design and Best Sound supported by Halo.

GOD’S CREATURES

Emily Watson is nominated in Lead Performance for her role in God’s Creatures, which also sees Paul Mescal pick up a second BIFA nomination – Best Supporting Performance – along with Aisling Franciosi. Shane Crowley is nominated for Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4 for this tense, emotional film in which a mother’s love for her son threatens to tear their small community apart. A nomination for Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing makes five.

MEN

BIFA winner Jessie Buckley and co-star Rory Kinnear are nominated for Best Joint Lead Performance for Alex Garland’s smart horror-thriller Men in which a young woman’s retreat to the country becomes a waking nightmare of her darkest fears. Further nominations are Best Cinematography sponsored by Dirty Looks & Kodak, Best Effects, Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing, and Best Sound supported by Halo.

THE ORIGIN

It’s the end of the Middle Paleolithic period in The Origin, and a dying tribe struggling in a hostile environment faces an even greater threat when night falls… First-time director Andrew Cumming nabs a nomination for Best Debut Director sponsored by BBC Film and writer Ruth Greenberg is nominated for Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4. Safia Oakley-Green is nominated for Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix with nominations for Best Make-up & Hair Design and Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing also featuring.

EMILY

Acclaimed actress Frances O’Connor moves behind the camera and picks up a nomination for Best Debut Director sponsored by BBC Film for her first feature Emily, an exploration of the young life and loves of the rebel and misfit who went on to write Wuthering Heights. Starring as the titular Brontë, Emma Mackey picks up a Best Lead Performance nomination, Fionn Whitehead gets a Best Supporting Performance nod and further cast members including Amelia Gething, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Alexandra Dowling, Gemma Jones, and Adrian Dunbar join them in a Best Ensemble Performance nomination.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE

Sex positivity abounds in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, nominated for Best British Independent Film, Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema for Sophie Hyde, Best Screenplay for Katy Brand, and Best Joint Lead Performance for stars Daryl McCormack and BIFA winner Emma Thompson.

THE SILENT TWINS

Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrance are the final nominees in the new Best Joint Lead Performance category with The Silent Twins, which also received a Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight nomination for Kharmel Cochrane.

OTHER NOMINATIONS

Elsewhere in the performance categories, 2020 contender Cosmo Jarvis is nominated for his role in Antonia Campbell-Hughes’s debut feature It Is in Us All, with Sally Hawkins for The Lost King and Hala Zein for Nezouh completing the Best Lead Performance nominations. Nezouh also receives a Best Effects nomination. Rounding out the Best Supporting Performance nominations are Zoey Deutch for The Outfit and Zainab Joda for Our River…Our Sky, which is also nominated in the new Best Ensemble Performance category and for Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight.

Leo Long is nominated for Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix for his role as an autistic drummer with an incredible gift in I Used to Be Famous. Thomas Hardiman earns a nomination for Best Debut Director sponsored by BBC Film for his inspired murder-mystery Medusa Deluxe, set in the extravagant and obsessive world of competitive hairdressing, which also gets Best Make-Up & Hair Design and Best Production Design nominations.

BRIAN AND CHARLES

David Earl and Chris Hayward create touching comedy gold with Brian and Charles, their documentary-style tale of friendship and freedom, and earn a joint nomination for Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4, Rupert Majendie is nominated for Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios for the film, joined by Aleksandra Bilić and Jennifer Corcoran (Nascondino [Hide & Seek]), Paul Kennedy (Nightride) and Nadira Murray (Winners) in that category. Winners also receive a Raindance Discovery Award nomination.

BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR

The new Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary category sees Victoria Fiore nominated for Nascondino [Hide & Seek], Jono McLeod for My Old School, Kathryn Ferguson for Nothing Compares, Becky Hutner for Fashion Reimagined and Leah Gordon and Eddie Hutton Mills for Kanaval. Further nominations for this year’s crop of debut documentary features include Best Cinematography sponsored by Dirty Looks & Kodak for Nascondino [Hide & Seek] and Kanaval and Best Editing for Nothing Compares.

Three of the five Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary nominees also land Best Feature Documentary sponsored by Intermission nominations – Nascondino [Hide & Seek], Nothing Compares, and My Old School.

THE RICHARD HARRIS AWARD

The Richard Harris Award, introduced in 2002 in honor of Richard Harris, recognizes outstanding contributions to British Film by an actor. Previous winners have been Daniel Day-Lewis, Julie Walters, John Hurt, Emma Thompson, Judi Dench, Kristin Scott Thomas, Glenda Jackson, and Riz Ahmed in 2021. This year’s award recipient will be announced in the coming weeks, as will the ceremony host and this year’s juries.

THE FULL LIST OF NOMINATIONS

The Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film

To be announced

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

THE 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

THE 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

THE 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

THE 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

THE BEST BRITISH SHORT FILM SPONSORED 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

THE 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

THE 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

THE 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

THE 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

ABOUT BIFA

Celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2022, BIFA (The British Independent Film Awards) highlights the best independent British film and filmmakers and the best future prospects. BIFA celebrates, promotes, and supports talent and creativity in British independent film, to develop a rich, inclusive, and sustainable independent film culture in the UK. Nominees and winners are selected by the industry – every eligible film is watched and discussed, making BIFA the only truly credible source for the best in British independent film.

Proud patrons of the British Independent Film Awards are Mike Figgis, Tom Hollander, Adrian Lester, Ken Loach, Ewan McGregor, Helen Mirren, Samantha Morton, James Nesbitt, Michael Sheen, Trudie Styler, Tilda Swinton, Meera Syal, David Thewlis, Ray Winstone, and Michael Winterbottom.

The British Independent Film Awards 2022 will be handed out on Sunday, December 4th. But who will win the coveted prizes? Share your predictions below.

Source: BIFA

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