The British Independent Film Awards are what I like to think of, rightly or wrongly, as the UK version of the Gotham Awards... or maybe the Spirit Awards. British readers can correct that assumption in the comments if it's totally untenable. They've announced their nominations and on the heels of the EFA announcement this is more minor good news for Amour but I'm already off track. That's barely a blip story here since the awards focus (almost) exclusively on British Indies. Let's talk headline.
In terms of Oscar the biggest boost (i.e. more laurels for the FYC ads to tout) goes to the sleeper hit The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which we should've figured would come back to life at year's end given how well liked slash comfy it is. It even doubles up on the Dames for maximum BAFTA/AMPAS pleasure.
BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
Berberian Sound Studio
Broken
Sightseers
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The Imposter
Broken, a film about a young girl who witnesses a violent attack, leads the BIFA nods with 9 nominations including 4 for acting. Marigold Hotel won 3 acting nominations. Complete list of nominations with commentary after the jump...
BEST DIRECTOR
Bart Layton – The Imposter
Ben Wheatley – Sightseers
John Madden – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Peter Strickland – Berberian Sound Studio
Rufus Norris – Broken
My Brother the Devil about British-Egyptian brothers has been winning strong reviews
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
"Andrea Riseborough" hasn't really caught on yet stateside but damn she's a good actress. Elle Fanning is still a newbie to awards season but how long until she's a regular nominee? And finally, since The Iron Lady arrived so late last season it's eligible for the BIFAs this year. Gross... we still can't be done with that thing?
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
Given the rather vague state of the current Best Supporting Actress race, it might be worth parsing this list for candidates who are stronger than most pundits are expecting. Most of these women are or will be eligible for Oscar consideration.
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
Ill Manors
Sightseers
The Imposter
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
Berberian Sound Studio (trailer above), about a sound engineer (Toby Jones) working on a horror film sure cleaned up in the nominations as well. Have any of you seen it?
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Dreams of a Life
London: The Modern Babylon
Marley
Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir
The Imposter
BEST BRITISH SHORT
Friday
Junk
Skyborn
Swimmer
Volume
BEST INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Rust & Bone
Searching For Sugar Man
The Hunt
More early attention for Amour & Beasts... it can't hurt. Three of these films have buzzy Best Actress bids but they aren't eligible for the BIFAs since you have to be starring in a British indie for the acting awards.
THE RAINDANCE AWARD
Frank
Strings
Love Tomorrow
City Slacker
Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet