The winners have been announced for the British Independent Film Awards with the award for Best British Independent Film going to After Love, Aleem Khan’s directorial debut in which a recently widowed woman comes to terms with a shocking secret about her husband’s life.
Aleem Khan won three further BIFA awards – Best Director, The Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director and Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Film, with Joanna Scanlan taking home Best Actress and Talid Ariss Best Supporting Actor for their performances in the film.
Adeel Akhtar was awarded Best Actor for his role in Clio Barnard’s tender story of forbidden love, Ali & Ava, which also saw Connie Farr and Harry Escott scoring the Best Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing BIFA.
The Best Supporting Actress award went to Vinette Robinson for her work in Philip Barantini’s multi-BIFA nominated single-take restaurant kitchen drama Boiling Point. Boiling Point also received awards for Carolyn McCleod for Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society and Spotlight; Matthew Lewis for Best Cinematography sponsored by Dirty Looks & Kodak and James Drake, Rob Entwistle and Kiff McManus for Best Sound supported by Halo.
Breakthrough Performance went to Nell Barlow, star of Marley Morrison’s British holiday park set coming-of-age debut Sweetheart, which also won the Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood Studio Group for Michelle Antoniades.
Cathy Brady won Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4 for Wildfire, which follows two sisters from Northern Ireland reconnecting with each other and their past.
Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché, Paul Sng and Celeste Bell’s intimate film about the titular punk icon and X-ray Spex frontwoman, claimed both Best Documentary sponsored by Intermission and The Raindance Discovery Award.
Best British Short Film went to FEMME, in which a night out takes a dark turn for a femme gay man.
Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee, the animated real-life story of a childhood refugee’s hidden past, won Best International Independent Film sponsored by Champagne Taittinger, this category was won by Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland in 2020.
The Souvenir Part II, Joanna Hogg’s follow up to her critically acclaimed feature The Souvenir was awarded three craft awards, Best Costume Design for Grace Snell, Best Editing for Helle Le Fevre and Best Production Design for Stéphane Collonge, all three were nominated for The Souvenir in 2019.
Best Effects was taken by Mike Knights, Steven Bray Dan Martin and Leigh Cranston for their work on Rob Savage’s Road trip horror Dashcam and Vickie Lang, Kristyan Mallet and Donald McInnes were awarded the Best Make Up & Hair Design BIFA for Will Sharpe’s period biopic The Electrical Life of Louis Wain.
The Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film was presented to Riz Ahmed.
The Special Jury Prize, awarded by the BIFA Main Jury, which this year included Jennifer Ehle, Alice Lowe, Emma Corrin and Bennet McGhee, was given to Raising Films, the groundbreaking organisation which supports and campaigns for parents and carers working in the UK screen sector.
BIFA NOMINEES & WINNERS 2021
The Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film
Riz Ahmed
The Special Jury Prize
Raising Films
Best British Independent Film
★ AFTER LOVE Aleem Khan, Matthieu de Braconier
ALI & AVA Clio Barnard, Tracy O’Riordan
BOILING POINT Philip Barantini, James Cummings, Bart Ruspoli, Hester Ruoff
THE NEST Sean Durkin, Ed Guiney, Derrin Schlesinger, Rose Garnett, Amy Jackson, Cristina Piovesan
THE SOUVENIR PART II Joanna Hogg, Ed Guiney, Emma Norton, Andrew Lowe, Luke Schiller
Best Director
PHILIP BARANTINI Boiling Point
CLIO BARNARD Ali & Ava
SEAN DURKIN The Nest
JOANNA HOGG The Souvenir Part II
★ ALEEM KHAN After Love
Best Actress
CAITRÍONA BALFE Belfast
CARRIE COON The Nest
CLAIRE RUSHBROOK Ali & Ava
★ JOANNA SCANLAN After Love
RUTH WILSON True Things
Best Supporting Actress
JUDI DENCH Belfast
JO HARTLEY Sweetheart
NATHALIE RICHARD After Love
★ VINETTE ROBINSON Boiling Point
TILDA SWINTON The Souvenir Part II
The Douglas Hickox Award
(Best Debut Director)
PRANO BAILEY-BOND Censor
CELESTE BELL Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché [also directed by Paul Sng]
CATHY BRADY Wildfire
★ ALEEM KHAN After Love
MARLEY MORRISON Sweetheart
Breakthrough Performance
LAURYN AJUFO Boiling Point
★ NELL BARLOW Sweetheart
MAX HARWOOD Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
JUDE HILL Belfast
ELLORA TORCHIA In the Earth
Best Documentary sponsored by Intermission
COW Andrea Arnold, Kat Mansoor
DYING TO DIVORCE Chloë Fairweather, Sinead Kirwan
I AM BELMAYA Sue Carpenter, Christopher Hird
KEYBOARD FANTASIES Posy Dixon, Liv Proctor
★ POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHÉ Paul Sng, Celeste Bell, Zoë Howe, Rebecca Mark-Lawson, Matthew Silverman, Daria Nitsche
Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Film
CLIO BARNARD Ali & Ava
TERENCE DAVIES Benediction
SEAN DURKIN The Nest
JOANNA HOGG The Souvenir Part II
★ ALEEM KHAN After Love
Best Actor
RIZ AHMED Encounter
★ ADEEL AKHTAR Ali & Ava
STEPHEN GRAHAM Boiling Point
JUDE LAW The Nest
JAMES NORTON Nowhere Special
Best Supporting Actor
★ TALID ARISS After Love
RICHARD AYOADE The Souvenir Part II
LUCIAN-RIVER CHAUHAN Encounter
CIARÁN HINDS Belfast
RAY PANTHAKI Boiling Point
Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood Studio Group
★ MICHELLE ANTONIADES Sweetheart
HELEN JONES Censor
JESSICA MALIK She Will [also produced by Bob Last]
HESTER RUOFF Boiling Point [also produced by Bart Ruspoli]
ROB WATSON The Power [also produced by Matthew James Wilkinson]
Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4
PRANO BAILEY-BOND Censor [also written by Anthony Fletcher]
★ CATHY BRADY Wildfire
ALEEM KHAN After Love
MARLEY MORRISON Sweetheart
REGGIE YATES Pirates
The Raindance Discovery Award
BANK JOB Daniel Edelstyn, Hilary Powell, Christopher Hird
THE BIKE THIEF Matt Chambers, PK Fellowes, Sophia Gibber, Lene Bausager
I AM BELMAYA Sue Carpenter, Christopher Hird
★ POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHÉ Paul Sng, Celeste Bell, Zoë Howe, Rebecca Mark-Lawson, Matthew Silverman, Daria Nitsche
REBEL DYKES Harri Shanahan, Siân A. Williams, Siobhan Fahey
Best British Short Film supported by BFI Network
EGÚNGÚN (MASQUERADE) Olive Nwosu, Alex Polunin
★ FEMME Sam H. Freeman, Ng Choon Ping, Sam Ritzenberg, Hayley Williams, Rienkje Attoh
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DREAD Ida Melum, Laura Jayne Tunbridge, Hannah Kelso, Danielle Goff
PLAY IT SAFE Mitch Kalisa, Chris Toumazou
PRECIOUS HAIR & BEAUTY John Ogunmuyiwa, Sophia Gibber, Tony Longe, Lene Bausager
Best International Independent Film sponsored by Champagne Taittinger
COMPARTMENT NO. 6 Juho Kuosmanen, Livia Ulman, Andris Feldmanis, Jussi Rantamäki, Emilia Haukka
FIRST COW Kelly Reichardt, Jon Raymond, Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani
★ FLEE Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Amin Nawabi, Monica Hellstrøm, Signe Byrge Sørensen
PETITE MAMAN Céline Sciamma, Bénédicte Couvreur
PLEASURE Ninja Thyberg, Peter Modestij, Erik Hemmendorff, Eliza Jones, Markus Waltå
Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight
SHAHEEN BAIG After Love
SHAHEEN BAIG Ali & Ava
SHAHEEN BAIG Pirates
LUCY BEVAN, EMILY BROCKMANN Belfast
★ CAROLYN MCLEOD Boiling Point
Best Cinematography sponsored by Dirty Looks & Kodak
MÁTYÁS ERDÉLY The Nest
MAGDALENA KOWALCZYK Cow
★ MATTHEW LEWIS Boiling Point
ANNIKA SUMMERSON Censor
HARIS ZAMBARLOUKOS Belfast
Best Costume Design
MICHAEL O’CONNOR The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
★ GRACE SNELL The Souvenir Part II
GUY SPERANZA Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
ANNIE SYMONS Benediction
CHARLOTTE WALTER Belfast
Best Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing
IAIN COOKE Pirates
★ CONNIE FARR, HARRY ESCOTT Ali & Ava
JED KURZEL Encounter
CLINT MANSELL In the Earth
VAN MORRISON Belfast
Best Effects
★ MIKE KNIGHTS, STEVEN BRAY, DAN MARTIN, LEIGH CRANSTON Dashcam
GARY BROWN, ISTVÁN MOLNÁR, DAN MARTIN Censor
RUPERT DAVIES, NICK RIDEOUT The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
Best Editing
★ HELLE LE FEVRE The Souvenir Part II
REBECCA LLOYD, JACOB SCHULSINGER, NICOLAS CHAUDEURGE Cow
ÚNA NÍ DHONGHAÍLE Belfast
MARK TOWNS Censor
BEN WHEATLEY In the Earth
Best Make-Up & Hair Design
SIOBHAN HARPER-RYAN The Souvenir Part II
★ VICKIE LANG, KRISTYAN MALLETT, DONALD MCINNES The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
RUTH PEASE Censor
NADIA STACEY Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
WAKANA YOSHIHARA Belfast
Best Production Design
JIM CLAY Belfast
★ STÉPHANE COLLONGE The Souvenir Part II
SUZIE DAVIES The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
AIMEE MEEK Boiling Point
PAULINA RZESZOWSKA Censor
Best Sound supported by Halo
NICOLAS BECKER, CYRIL HOLTZ, LINDA FORSEN, NIKKY FRENCH Cow
★ JAMES DRAKE, ROB ENTWISTLE, KIFF MCMANUS Boiling Point
TIM HARRISON, JAMIE RODEN, ADELE FLETCHER, DAVID MITCHELL Censor
MARTIN PAVEY In the Earth
ANDREW STIRK, PAUL DAVIES, MORGAN MUSE, BERNARD O’REILLY, JULIAN HOWARTH Encounter
Jon Creamer
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