British Independent Film Award Nominations

With the British film industry still reeling from proposed massive budget cuts from governmental agencies, there is definitely an atmosphere of uncertainty in the air (which I experienced last week while attending the BFI London Film Festival). However, as far as the British films that will be hitting screens in the coming weeks, it actually appears to be a rather prolific period. This can be interpreted as either a brief celebratory calm before the storm, or just another indicator that the British film industry indeed has a pulse, despite the doom and gloom that has pervaded the media coverage about it. Once again, British films are alive and well, despite news to the contrary.

This was indeed evidenced this week by the announcements of the nominations for the Moet British Independent Film Awards, which will celebrate its 13th annual lovefest next month. To no one's surprise, THE KING'S SPEECH by Tom Hooper led the nominations with eight nods, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and acting nominations for Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush and Guy Pearce.  This will undoubtedly be the case for the film with end-of-the-year critics prizes and the upcoming Golden Globe and Oscar nominations later this year.

Aside from THE KING'S SPEECH, other Best Film nominees include KICK-ASS (Matthew Vaughn), MONSTERS (Gareth Edwards) and NEVER LET ME GO (Mark Romanek), each of which took multiple nominations themselves. Other films receiving nominati8ons included such high profile titles as BRIGHTON ROCK (Rowan Joffe), MADE IN DAGENHAM (Nigel Cole) and ANOTHER YEAR (Mike Leigh).

A prominent nominee in the Best Documentary category is THE ARBOR, the directorial debut of visual artist Clio Barnard, The film, which profiles the life and career of playwright Andrea Dunbar and her troubled relationship with her family, won two awards at the recently concluded BFI London Film Festival. Barnard spent two years interviewing Dunbar’s family and friends, and these personal accounts formed the backbone to the film, which is a canny mix of documentary and fiction. THE ARBOR received six nominations, including Best Documentary, Best Debut Director and Best Actress for Manjinder Virk.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony which will take place on Sunday, December 5th at the Old Billingsgate in London and will be hosted for the sixth year by James Nesbitt. The full list of nominations is below.

BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
Four Lions
Kick-Ass
The King’s Speech
Monsters
Never Let Me Go

BEST DIRECTOR
Mike Leigh - Another Year
Matthew Vaughn - Kick-Ass
Tom Hooper - The King’s Speech
Gareth Edwards - Monsters
Mark Romanek - Never Let Me Go

THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD [BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR]
Debs Gardner Paterson - Africa United
Clio Barnard - The Arbor
Rowan Joffe - Brighton Rock
Chris Morris - Four Lions
Gareth Edwards - Monsters

BEST SCREENPLAY
Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Simon Blackwell, Christopher Morris - Four Lions
Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn - Kick-Ass
David Seidler - The King’s Speech
William Ivory - Made In Dagenham
Alex Garland - Never Let Me Go

BEST ACTRESS
Manjinder Virk - The Arbor
Ruth Sheen - Another Year
Andrea Riseborough - Brighton Rock
Sally Hawkins - Made In Dagenham
Carey Mulligan - Never Let Me Go

BEST ACTOR
Jim Broadbent - Another Year
Riz Ahmed - Four Lions
Colin Firth - The King’s Speech
Scoot McNairy - Monsters
Aidan Gillen - Treacle Junior

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Lesley Manville - Another Year
Helena Bonham Carter - The King’s Speech
Rosamund Pike - Made In Dagenham
Keira Knightley - Never Let Me Go
Tamsin Greig - Tamara Drewe

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kayvan Novak - Four Lions
Guy Pearce - The King’s Speech
Geoffrey Rush - The King’s Speech
Bob Hoskins - Made In Dagenham
Andrew Garfield - Never Let Me Go

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER
Manjinder Virk - The Arbor
Andrea Riseborough - Brighton Rock
Tom Hughes - Cemetery Junction
Joanne Froggatt - In Our Name
Conor McCarron - Neds

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
The Arbor
In Our Name
Monsters
Skeletons
Streetdance 3D

RAINDANCE AWARD
Brilliant Love
Jackboots On Whitehall
Legacy
Son Of Babylon
Treacle Junior

BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
The Arbor - Sound - Tim Barker
Brighton Rock - Cinematography - John Mathieson
The Illusionist - Animation - Sylvain Chomet
The King’s Speech - Production Design - Eve Stewart
Monsters - Visual Effects - Gareth Edwards

BEST DOCUMENTARY
The Arbor
Enemies of the People
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Fire In Babylon
Waste Land

BEST BRITISH SHORT
Baby
Photograph Of Jesus
Sign Language
Sis
The Road Home

BEST FOREIGN FILM
Dogtooth
I Am Love
A Prophet
The Secret In Their Eyes
Winter’s Bone

Sandy Mandelberger, Awards Watch Editor