03 December 2023
Newsdesk
The winners of the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) were announced at the annual ceremony at Old Billingsgate with BIFA patron Ray Winstone kicking off the celebration of independent film, Lolly Adefope and Kiell Smith-Bynoe hosting and stars including Jodie Comer, Zawe Ashton, Asa Butterfield and Theo James presenting awards.
Best British Independent Film, presented by Fiona Shaw, went to Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers, a beautifully unsettling tale of a writer revisiting his past, starring Andrew Scott. Haigh, who was previously BIFA nominated for 2015’s 45 Years and 2018’s Lean on Pete, also came away with the coveted awards for Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema and Best Screenplay sponsored by Apple Original Films. There were two winners announced for Best Supporting Performance from a field of ten nominees and Paul Mescal took one of those trophies for his role in the film. All of Us Strangers won four awards on the night, adding to its three craft awards, announced in November: Best Cinematography sponsored by Harbor and Kodak for Jamie D. Ramsay, Best Editing for Jonathan Alberts and Best Music Supervision for Connie Farr, her second BIFA, following her win for Clio Barnard’s Ali & Ava in 2021.
Best Lead Performance went to Mia McKenna-Bruce in Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature How to Have Sex, which follows three teenage girls navigating a wild summer holiday in Malia. Shaun Thomas won Best Supporting Performance for his role as Badger. The film won three BIFAs in total, including the previously announced win for Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight for Isabella Odoffin.
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett and George MacKay were presented with the Best Joint Lead Performance award for Femme. The award was presented by 2021 and 2022 BIFA winners Adeel Akhtar and Rosy McEwen, Sam H Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s tense, twisty revenge thriller added a third trophy to its craft wins – Best Costume Design for Buki Ebiesuwa and Best Make-Up & Hair Design for Marie Deehan.
Best Debut Director sponsored by BBC Film went to Savanah Leaf for Earth Mama, who also penned the story of a pregnant single mother embracing her community as she fights to reclaim her family. Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4 went to Nida Manzoor for her punch-packing comedy about two modern sisters navigating traditional values, Polite Society.
Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios went to Theo Barrowclough for Scrapper, an uplifting story of a grieving young girl negotiating the reappearance of her very absent father, written and directed by debut feature maker Charlotte Regan.
Rye Lane star Vivian Oparah scored the 2023 Breakthrough Performance award for her role in Raine Allen-Miller’s refreshingly quirky Peckham-set rom-com debut, which had also received Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group for Kwes.
Best Documentary Feature sponsored by Intermission Film went to If the Streets Were on Fire, Alice Russell’s debut film spotlighting the BikeStormz movement changing young lives, which also won this year’s Raindance Maverick Award. Best Debut Director – Documentary Feature went to Chloe Abrahams for her very personal unearthing of a hidden family history in The Taste of Mango.
Aisling Bea presented Best British Short Film to Festival of Slaps, Abdou Cissé’s action-packed emotional rollercoaster exploring the misconceptions of Pan African parenting and the clash of modern life.
Justine Triet’s critically acclaimed, Palme d’Or winning journey into the depths of a couple’s relationship, Anatomy of a Fall secured itself another accolade, the 2023 BIFA for Best International Independent Film sponsored by Champagne Taittinger.
Previously announced craft winners who were celebrated at the ceremony included Mark Jenkin, who won Best Sound supported by Halo for his 1970s-set remote island mystery Enys Men and the two awards for Daniel Kaluuya and Kibwe Tavares’ future-set story of a dystopian London The Kitchen: Best Production Design sponsored by ATC & Broadsword for Nathan Parker and Best Effects for Richard Baker and the late Jonathan Gales.
The 2023 Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film was presented to Stephen Graham by his old friend Jodie Comer.
The Special Jury Prize, awarded by the BIFA Jury and presented by 2023 jury member Paapa Essiedu, went to We Are Parable, the grassroots company founded by Anthony and Teanne Andrews to deliver Black cinema to audiences in exciting, culturally relevant, unique ways, and setting a shining example of what can be achieved by bridging the gap between filmmakers and community.
The Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film
STEPHEN GRAHAM
Special Jury Prize
WE ARE PARABLE
Best British Independent Film
★ ALL OF US STRANGERS Andrew Haigh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey
FEMME Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping, Myles Payne, Sam Ritzenberg
HOW TO HAVE SEX Molly Manning Walker, Ivana MacKinnon, Emily Leo, Konstantinos Kontovrakis
RYE LANE Raine Allen-Miller, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo, Damian Jones
SCRAPPER Charlotte Regan, Theo Barrowclough
Best International Independent Film sponsored by Champagne Taittinger
★ ANATOMY OF A FALL Justine Triet, Arthur Harari, Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion
FALLEN LEAVES Aki Kauriskmäki
FREMONT Babak Jalali, Carolina Cavalli, Marjaneh Moghimi, Sudnya Shroff, Rachael Fung
MONSTER Hirokazu Kore-Eda, Yuji Sakamoto, Genki Kawamura, Kenji Yamada
PAST LIVES Celine Song, David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler
Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema
RAINE ALLEN-MILLER Rye Lane
SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme
★ ANDREW HAIGH All of Us Strangers
MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex
CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper
Best Lead Performance
JODIE COMER The End We Start From
★ MIA MCKENNA-BRUCE How to Have Sex
TIA NOMORE Earth Mama
NABHAAN RIZWAN In Camera
ANDREW SCOTT All of Us Strangers
TILDA SWINTON The Eternal Daughter
Best Screenplay sponsored by Apple Original Films
NATHAN BRYON, TOM MELIA Rye Lane
SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme
★ ANDREW HAIGH All of Us Strangers
MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex
CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper
Best Supporting Performance
RITU ARYA Polite Society
JAMIE BELL All of Us Strangers
SAMUEL BOTTOMLEY How to Have Sex
ALEXANDRA BURKE Pretty Red Dress
AMIR EL-MASRY In Camera
CLAIRE FOY All of Us Strangers
★ PAUL MESCAL All of Us Strangers
ALIA SHAWKAT Drift
★ SHAUN THOMAS How to Have Sex
KATHERINE WATERSON The End We Start From
Best Joint Lead Performance
LOLA CAMPBELL, HARRIS DICKINSON Scrapper
DAVID JONSSON, VIVIAN OPARAH Rye Lane
★ NATHAN STEWART-JARRETT, GEORGE MACKAY Femme
The Douglas Hickox Award
(Best Debut Director)
sponsored by BBC Film
RAINE ALLEN-MILLER Rye Lane
SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme
★ SAVANAH LEAF Earth Mama
MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex
CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper
Breakthrough Producer
sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios
★ THEO BARROWCLOUGH Scrapper
GEORGIA GOGGIN Pretty Red Dress
YVONNE ISIMEME IBAZEBO Rye Lane
[also produced by Damian Jones]
GANNESH RAJAH If the Streets Were on Fire
CHI THAI Raging Grace
Breakthrough Performance
sponsored by Netflix
LE’SHANTEY BONSU Girl
LOLA CAMPBELL Scrapper
PRIYA KANSARA Polite Society
MIA MCKENNA-BRUCE How to Have Sex
★ VIVIAN OPARAH Rye Lane
Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary
★ CHLOE ABRAHAMS The Taste of Mango
SOPHIE COMPTON, REUBEN HAMLYN Another Body
ELLA GLENDINING Is There Anybody Out There?
ALICE RUSSELL If the Streets Were on Fire
CHRISTOPHER SHARP Bobi Wine: The People’s President [also directed by Moses Bwayo]
Best Debut Screenwriter
sponsored by Film4
NATHAN BRYON, TOM MELIA Rye Lane
SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme
MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex
★ NIDA MANZOOR Polite Society
CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper
The Raindance Maverick Award
★ IF THE STREETS WERE ON FIRE Alice Russell, Gannesh Rajah
IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE? Ella Glendining, Janine Marmot
NAME ME LAWAND Edward Lovelace
RAGING GRACE Paris Zarcilla, Chi Thai
RED HERRING Kit Vincent, Ed Owles
Best Feature Documentary sponsored by Intermission Film
ANOTHER BODY Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn, Isabel Freeman, Elizabeth Woodward
BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp, John Battsek
★ IF THE STREETS WERE ON FIRE Alice Russell, Gannesh Rajah
LYRA Alison Millar, Jackie Doyle
OCCUPIED CITY Steve McQueen, Bianca Stigter, Floor Onrust, Anna Smith-Tenser
Best British Short Film
CHRISTOPHER AT SEA Tom C J Brown, Laure Desmazières, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron, Amanda Miller, Hannah Stolarski, Nick Read, Emily-Jane Brown
★ FESTIVAL OF SLAPS Abdou Cissé, Cheri Darbon, George Telfer
LIONS Beru Tessema, Ama Ampadu
MUNA Warda Mohamed, Angela Moneke, Simon Hatton
THE TALENT Thomas May Bailey, Emma D'Arcy, Ellen Spence
Best Casting
sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight
SHAHEEN BAIG Scrapper
KHARMEL COCHRANE Rye Lane
KAHLEEN CRAWFORD All of Us Strangers
★ ISABELLA ODOFFIN How to Have Sex
SALOME OGGENFUSS, GERALDINE BARÓN, ABBY HARRI Earth Mama
Best Cinematography
sponsored by Harbor & Kodak
OLAN COLLARDY Rye Lane
SUZIE LAVELLE The End We Start From
MOLLY MANNING WALKER Scrapper
★ JAMIE D. RAMSAY All of Us Strangers
JAMES RHODES Femme
Best Costume Design
GEORGE BUXTON How to Have Sex
OLIVER CRONK Scrapper
★ BUKI EBIESUWA Femme
CYNTHIA LAWRENCE-JOHN Rye Lane
PC WILLIAMS The End We Start From
Best Editing
★ JONATHAN ALBERTS All of Us Strangers
VICTORIA BOYDELL Rye Lane
PAUL CARLIN Bobi Wine: The People’s President
AVDHESH MOHLA High & Low – John Galliano
ARTTU SALMI The End We Start From
Best Effects
PADDY EASON Polite Society
THEODOR FLO-GROENEBOOM The End We
Start From
★ JONATHAN GALES, RICHARD BAKER
The Kitchen
Best Music Supervision
CIARA ELWIS Femme
★ CONNIE FARR All of Us Strangers
DAVID FISH Rye Lane
Best Make-Up & Hair Design
ZOE CLARE BROWN All of Us Strangers
CLAIRE CARTER Polite Society
★ MARIE DEEHAN Femme
NATASHA LAWES How to Have Sex
BIANCA SIMONE SCOTT Rye Lane
Best Original Music
sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group
ADAM JANOTA BZOWSKI Femme
PATRICK JONSSON Scrapper
★ KWES Rye Lane
ANNA MEREDITH The End We Start From
RÉ OLUNUGA Girl
Best Production Design
sponsored by ATC & Broadsword
LAURA ELLIS CRICKS The End We Start From
SARAH FINLAY All of Us Strangers
ELENA MUNTONI Scrapper
★ NATHAN PARKER The Kitchen
ANNA RHODES Rye Lane
Best Sound supported by Halo
BEN BAIRD, JACK WENSLEY, ADAM FLETCHER, ALEXEJ MUNGERSDORFF Scrapper
STEVE FANAGAN, NIKOS KONSTANTINOU, LEVI MERCURIO How to Have Sex
JOAKIM SUNDSTRÖM, PER BOSTRÖM, STEVIE HAYWOOD All of Us Strangers
★ MARK JENKIN Enys Men
JENS ROSENLUND PETERSEN, AMY FELTON,
JOE JACKSON, TIM CAVAGIN, LORI DOVI
The End We Start From
