Ireland's "Kneecap" leads the BIFA nominations
Tuesday, November 5, 2024 at 10:00PM
Cláudio Alves in BIFA, Bird, Civil War, Hard Truths, Ireland, Kneecap, Love Lies Bleeding, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, Santosh, Saoirse Ronan, The Outrun, Unicorns

by Cláudio Alves

In a fascinating turn of events, the official Oscar submission from Ireland is the most nominated film at the British Independent Film Awards. Kneecap, a comedy about the homonymous Belfast hip-hop group, scored a grand total of 14 nods, including five for its director, Rich Peppiatt. In the second place, we find Rose Glass's Saint Maud follow-up, Love Lies Bleeding. A thriller flirting with body horror, it nabbed 12 honors. Coming in third, there's The Outrun which continues to grow its awards season profile. The Scottish drama scored nine nominations overall, but its best bet is probably Best Actress, where Saoirse Ronan is aiming for gold. If things go according to Sony Picture Classic's plans, the film might add an Oscar nomination to its bounty before the season's over…

 

Best British Independent Film 

It's interesting to note how international these films are and how not a single one of them is set in England. Kneecap is an Irish narrative, while Love Lies Bleeding calls the US home. On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is all about Zambian customs and cultural specificities, while Santosh's narrative is all about observing and critiquing an Indian status quo. Finally, there's The Outrun, which is very explicitly set in the Orkney Islands, off the coast of Scotland. I'm sad that Hard Truths didn't manage to make it here, but that film's entire festival run suggests some institutional reluctance to embrace it, so this shouldn't be entirely surprising. What should be a tad shocking is Bird's absence, considering how well it scored elsewhere. Then again, gotta remember that, like the Gotham Awards, the BIFA nominations are handled by separate committees, resulting in these idiosyncratic results.

 

Best International Independent Film  

I cheer every time All We Imagine As Light gets a mention somewhere. The most interesting inclusion here is surely La Chimera, which feels like a 2024 film despite its festival run last year, complete with a qualifying release to be Oscar-eligible. NEON really fumbled that bag stateside.

 

Best Director 

This is the first time the BIFAs have nominated four women in the same Best Director lineup. Both Arnold and Nyoni are previous winners, with the former being the only filmmaker who has won this particular prize more than once. She got it for both Fish Tank and American Honey. Rose Glass was previously nominated for Saint Maud, while both Fingscheidt and Peppiatt are first-time nominees.

 

Best Debut Director 

Clearly, it's Peppiatt's to lose. One interesting tidbit about this lineup is that Unicorns is co-directed by Sally El Hosaini, who is ineligible here since this is not her debut. Indeed, she was nominated for the BIFAs in 2012 for My Brother the Devil.

 

Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary

Why does this category only have four films? Surely there were other eligible titles. In any case, Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other should win a special prize for Best Title.

 

Best Screenplay 

I find it quite dispiriting when only six titles gobble up all the nominations between the film, director, and screenplay races. Come on, spread the wealth a little bit.

 

Best Debut Screenwriter

If you check other publications, you might see that The Assessment writers are credited differently. As in their debut film, Garfath and Thomas prefer to go by Mr. & Mrs. Thomas. As in other categories, Kneecap seems like the favorite, with Santosh posing a significant threat. Funny that they're both Best International Oscar submissions – Peppiatt's film batting for Ireland while Suri's work represents the UK.

 

Best Lead Performance 

Interesting to see that, even with six nominations, only one man made it into this category. Same as in Best Director, funnily enough. Elliott Page's presence is notable for other reasons, including the fact he's Canadian. Unlike the European Film Awards, the BIFAs welcome everyone involved with international co-productions that include British funds. It's an interesting rule, though I had no idea Close to You was eligible for these prizes. In any case, they did well in nominating Page, who is the best reason to watch the indie drama. Give or take Peter Outerbridge's supporting turn as a weary patriarch who just wants to see his family happy, together, and alive.

 

Best Joint Lead Performance  

When they moved to gender-neutral acting races in 2022, the BIFAs came up with this odd little category as a way to keep rewarding the same number of actors (still four winners, minimum) and to dissuade those who might partake in category fraud. Why would co-leads pretend to be supporting when they can be nominated here? The past two teams to get this honor were Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrance in The Silent Twins, and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and George MacKay in Femme.

 


Best Supporting Performance

Well, maybe the anti-category fraud strategies didn't work out. Some prizes have been recognizing Keoghan and Rogowski as leads, including the EFAs where the German star earned a nod earlier today. I simply pretend I don't see any love given to that preposterous Amy Winehouse biopic. Better to focus on Austin and Chisela, whose performances are truly some of the best of the year, regardless of nationality.

 

Breakthrough Performance

I feel like there should be some system in place to prevent double dipping across the four acting categories. Chardy and Patel should have the advantage here since they are recognized in Lead and Joint Lead performance respectively. Then again, they might split the vote and clear the path for someone like Bird's young star.

 

Best Casting

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl is such an inspired nominee in this category. In fact, congrats all around for recognizing the work of those who cast lesser-known actors rather than the professionals who mostly corral stars. Only Love Lies Bleeding and Bird can be described as such, and even those projects involve unknown actors making their big break.

 


Best Editing  

Joe Bini is a previous nominee (should be winner) for You Were Never Really Here, while Chris Gill is a prior winner for American Animals. Jake Roberts is an Oscar nominee for Hell or High Water if that counts for anything with BIFA. It's interesting that Civil War was eligible but missed all the top categories. With those box office numbers, one would expect a bit more attention. Then again, the A24 production is on the threshold of what one could consider indie.

 

Best Cinematography

It's a pity that Dick Pope couldn't manage a posthumous nomination. His work in the latest Mike Leigh movie is subtle but virtuosic. Ben Fordesman is a previous winner for Saint Maid, while Rob Hardy was nominated for Men. Pawel Edelman is a first-time BIFA nominee, but the Polish cinematographer has already been recognized by AMPAS for The Pianist in 2002.

 


Best Production Design

Now, isn't that lovely? A Best Production Design lineup dominated by contemporary sets rather than period stylings certainly feels refreshing.

 

Best Costume Design 

This is O'Connor's to lose, right? Must be, since it's got the showiest fits, a cornucopia of Tudor period pieces that make no compromise for audience relatability. Quite the contrary, the Karim Aïnouz's film risks alienation by leaning hard on historical quirks, the bizarre and the grotesque.

 

Best Make-Up & Hair Design

If Unicorns wins, it'll be the second drag-focused drama to get this award in two years. The most recent victor was Femme, after all. That said, I'm rooting for Love Lies Bleeding's flirtations with body horror and Firebrand's disgusting array of facial hair, Tudor-style.

 

Best Effects

There's no way in hell Civil War loses this one, right? This is one of those categories where the most expensive flick usually wins.

 

Best Original Music  

I have a hunch The Outrun will take this one despite some tough competition. The score is so prevalent during the film's peaks and climaxes that one has to assume that those who loved it as a whole will fall head over heels for its music. Either that or Kneecap gets the gold.

 

Best Music Supervision

Kneecap might take the original music award, but it will surely take first place in this race. Unless BIFA goes gaga for that movie I'm pretending doesn't exist.

 

Best Sound

What will win? The spine-chilling auditory hallucinations in Love Lies Bleeding or the wartime mayhem in Lee or Civil War. Then again, Kneecap might sweep the BIFAs. However, since I'm shite at predicting, one can't count The Outrun out.

 

Best Feature Documentary

Super/Man and The Contestant are the more mainstream choices, but I wonder if Grand Theft Hamlet can pull through here. The BIFA committees certainly seem to be in love with this experiment in Shakespeare via video game.

 


Breakthrough Producer 

Remember the Unicorns conundrum in Debut Director? The situation is duplicated and amplified in this race. Santosh, Bring Them Down and Grand Theft Hamlet all include the work of other producers who were ineligible.

 

Raindance Maverick Award

This award exists to honor the BIFAs' origins, closely tied to the Raindance Film Festival. It also focuses on maverick filmmakers who work on extremely limited budgets, even smaller than the average BIFA nominee.

 

Best British Short Film

Nina Gantz is the biggest name here, having already won a BAFTA in 2016 for her Edmond short. Still, I doubt that'll spell the success of Wander to Wonder. After all, short categories are where more obscure filmmakers and newbies with feature hopes go to make their name.

 

What do you think of the BIFA nominations? Any predictions?

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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