Eye For Film >> News >> Sweet success at BIFAs for American Honey

Sweet success at BIFAs for American Honey

Under The Shadow also a big winner.

by Amber Wilkinson

American Honey won the award for best British film, while Sasha Lane was named best actress at BIFAs

Andrea Arnold's road trip drama American Honey was named Best British independent film at the BIFAs last night, while Arnold picked up the best director accolade. The film also saw Sasha Lane named best actress for her debut in the film and Robbie Ryan pick up the achievement in craft award for his cinematography.

Babak Anvari also made a big impact with his debut, the Tehran-set horror Under The Shadow. The Farsi language film, which tells the story of a mother and daughter terrorised by a djinn saw Anvari pick up the Douglas Hickox Award for best debut film and the screenplay prize. His nine-year-old star Avin Manshadi was named best supporting actress for her first screen role.

The best actor award went to Dave Johns for his role in Ken Loach's benefits drama I, Daniel Blake, while his co-star Hayley Squires won the award for most promising newcomer. Brett Goldstein was named best supporting actor for his role in Rachel Tunnard's debut Adult Life Skills, which also saw the Tunnard pick up the best debut screenplay award.

The documentary award went to Pete Middleton and James Spinney for their adaptation of John Hull's audio diaries, Notes On Blindness.

The short film award went to Rene Pannevis, Ashish Ghadiali and Jennifer Eriksson for Jacked, while Moonlight was named best international film.

Full list of nominees and winners

Best British Independent Film

Best International Independent Film

Best Director

WINNER: Andrea Arnold, American Honey
Babak Anvari, Under The Shadow
Ben Wheatley, Free Fire
Ken Loach, I, Daniel Blake
Peter Middleton, James Spinney, Notes On Blindness

Best Screenplay

Andrea Arnold, American Honey
WINNER: Babak Anvari, Under The Shadow
Billy O'Brien, Christopher Hyde, I Am Not A Serial Killer
Paul Laverty, I, Daniel Blake
Rachel Tunnard, Adult Life Skills

Best Actress

Hayley Squire, I, Daniel Blake
Jodie Whittaker, Adult Life Skills
Kate Dickie, Couple In A Hole
Narges Rashidi, Under The Shadow
WINNER: Sasha Lane, American Honey

Best Actor

WINNER: Dave Johns, I, Daniel Blake
Max Records, I Am Not A Serial Killer
Michael Fassbender, Trespass Against Us
Shie Labeouf, American Honey
Steve Brandon, My Feral Heart

Best Supporting Actor

Arinze Kene, The Pass
WINNER: Brett Goldstein, Adult Life Skills
Christopher Lloyd, I Am Not A Serial Killer
Jamie Dornan, Anthropoid
Sean Harris, Trespass Against Us

Best Supporting Actress

WINNER: Avin Manshadi, Under The Shadow
Gemma Arterton, The Girl With All The Gifts
Naomie Harris, Our Kind Of Traitor
Shana Swash, My Feral Heart
Terry Pheto, A United Kingdom

Best Documentary

The Confession: Living the War On Terror
Dancer
The Hard Stop
Notes On Blindness
Versus: The Life And Films Of Ken Loach

The Douglas Hickox Award (debut director)

Adam Smith, Trespass Against Us
Alice Lowe, Prevenge
WINNER: Babak Anvari, Under The Shadow
Peter Middleton, James Spinney, Notes On Blindness
Rachel Tunnard, Adult Life Skills

Best Debut Screenwriter

Ed Talfan, The Passing (Yr Ymadawiad)
Hope Dickson Leach, The Levelling
John Cairns, Michael McCartney, A Patch Of Fog
WINNER: Rachel Tunnard, Adult Life Skills
Simon Farnaby, Julian Barratt, Mindhorn

Breakthrough Producer

WINNER: Camille Gatin, The Girl With All The Gifts
Dionne Walker, The Hard Stop
Michael Berliner, Adult Life Skills
Mike Brett, Jo-Jo Ellison, Steve Jamison, Notes On Blindness
Paul Fegan, Where You’re Meant To Be

Discovery Award

Jamie Adams, Jon Rennie, Black Mountain Poets
Tom Kingsley, Will Sharpe, Tiani Ghosh, Jo-Jo Ellison, The Darkest Universe
Gareth Tunley, Jack Healy Guttmann, Tom Meeten, The Ghoul
Miranda Bowen, Leo Scott, Gozo
WINNER: Jim Hosking, Toby Harvard, Daniel Noah, Andrew Starke, Ant Timpson, Josh C Waller, Elijah Wood, The Greasy Strangler

Outstanding Achievement in Craft