BIFA nominations and jury announced

Hunger and In Bruges lead charge for glory

by Amber Wilkinson

The battle for the British Independent Film Awards promises to be a tight one this year, with a strong slate of films in contention.

Heading up the nominations for the 11th annual awards are two debut features - Steve McQueen's Hunger and Martin McDonagh's In Bruges, with seven nominations each. They will vie for the top award against Shane Meadows' Somers Town and Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire and James Marsh's documentary Man On Wire.

Announcing the awards today at Soho, Elliot Grove, founder of Raindance and the British Independent Film Awards said: "The nominations reveal an unparalleled number of new and young film talent across the various categories. Together with more established film industry names, these nominees mark a refreshing 11th year."

In a field of contenders that shows a strength in breadth across the British film industry, there are an unprecendented 36 films up for awards. Hot on the heels of Hunger and In Bruges are Slumdog Millionaire follows with six nominations, Shifty - one of the first from the Film London Microwave slate - with five, and Somers Town, Son of Rambow and The Duchess with four each.

The BIFA pre-selection committee (of 70 members) viewed more than 150 films, out of which they selected the nominations

BIFA Directors, Johanna von Fischer and Tessa Collinson said: "We are delighted to be able to highlight such an eclectic range of new British film talent this year with the pre-nomination debut director category being the most competitive BIFA has ever had. We are also proud to honour two outstanding British acting talents and careers with The Richard Harris and The Variety Awards."

From his breakthrough role in Mike Leigh's Naked through to his most recent role as the Father in this year's BIFA nominated The Boy In Striped Pyjamas, David Thewlis, a nominee in BIFAs inaugural year 1998, will receive the Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor. Also this year, The Variety Award for bringing the international spotlight to the British film industry, goes to the star of Frost/Nixon, Michael Sheen.

BIFA's jury comprises 16 professionals and talents from across the British film industry including: producer and Chair, Simon Relph, actresses Anne Marie Duff and Eva Birthistle, actors Mark Strong and Christopher Simpson, director Joe Wright, photographer/director Rankin, writer/director Paul Andrew Williams, writer Abi Morgan, producers David Lawson, Gina Carter and Cat Villiers, Xavier Marchand, distributor (Momentum), casting director Shaheen Baig, agent Tor Belfrage and Col Needham, founder and managing director of the Internet Movie Database.

The ceremony will take place on Sunday November 30th at the Old Billingsgate Market in London and will be hosted by James Nesbitt.

This year's nominees:







Mark Herman –
Steve McQueen – Danny Boyle –
Shane Meadows –
Garth Jennings –


James Watkins –
Rupert Wyatt –
Steve McQueen –
Martin McDonagh –
Eran Creevy –


Enda Walsh, Steve McQueen –
Martin McDonagh –
Simon Beaufoy –
Paul Fraser –
Garth Jennings –


Vera Farmiga –
Samantha Morton –
Keira Knightley –
Kelly Reilly –
Sally Hawkins –


Michael Fassbender –
Colin Farrell –
Brendan Gleeson –
Riz Ahmed –
Thomas Turgoose –


Emma Thompson –
Hayley Atwell –
Kristin Scott Thomas –
Sienna Miller –
Alexis Zegerman –


Ralph Fiennes –
Eddie Marsan –
Liam Cunningham –
Ralph Fiennes –
Daniel Mays –


Asa Butterfield –
Dev Patel –
Ayush Mahesh Khedekar –
Bill Milne –
Will Poulter –











Wardrobe – Michael O'Connor –
Cinematography – Sean Bobbitt –
Editing – Jon Gregory –
Music – Harry Escott, Molly Nyman –
Cinematography – Anthony Dod Mantle –



















Announced November 30th

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