British Independent Film Awards announce nominees

The Queen, Red Road and Last King Of Scotland all vie for top gong

by Amber Wilkinson

The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) announced its nominees today.

London film festival hit The Last King Of Scotland will be battling against Venice Festival's darling The Queen, with Andrea Arnold's debut feature Red Road also nominated for a clutch of awards including best film.

Helen Mirren is already named as a recipient of The Variety UK Personality Award, with Richard Harris Award for outstanding contribution to British film by an actor and the Special Jury Prize yet to be announced.

A spokesman said: "BIFA prides itself on providing a platform for up and coming talent and this year has increased the number of nominations in the Most Promising Newcomer category as there was so much talent to choose from."

The jury which will select the winners to be announced at a ceremony in London on November 29, will be chaired by producer Sandy Lieberson. The jury members include writer Frank Cottrell Boyce, actors Alan Cumming, Anna Friel, Damian Lewis and Jason Isaacs.

BIFA founder Elliot Grove added: The time is now right for BIFA to stand on its own and grow."

The nominations and full list of jury members are:

Best British Independent Film




Best Director
Kevin Macdonald -
Stephen Frears -
Michael Caton Jones -
Shane Meadows - >
Ken Loach -

Best Actor
Forest Whitaker (Idi Amin) -
Peter O'Toole (Maurice) -
Cillian Murphy (Darrien) -
Tony Curran (Clyde) -
James McAvoy (Nicholas Carrigan) -

Best Actress
Helen Mirren (Queen Elizabeth II) -
Kate Dickie (Jackie) -
Frances de la Tour (Mrs Lintott) -
Robin Wright Oenn (Liv) -
Juliette Binoch (Amira) -

Best Supporting Actor/Actress
Martin Compston (Stevie) -
Leslie Phillips (Ian) -
Vannessa Redgrave (Maurice's ex-wife) -
Joseph Gilgun (Woody) - >
Stephen Graham (Combo) - >

Most Promising Newcomer (on screen)
Jodie Whittaker (Jessie) -
Thomas Turgoose (Shaun) - >
Samuel Barnett (Posner) -
Harry and Luke Treadaway (Tom and Barry Howe) -
Dominic Cooper (Dekin) -
Rafi Gavron (Miro) -

Best Screenplay
Alan Bennett -
Peter Morgan -
Hanif Kureishi -
Shane Meadows - >
Peter Morgan & Jeremy Brock -

Best Foreign Independent Film




Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director
Menhaj Huda -
Paul Andrew Williams -
Andrea Arnold -
Tom Vaughan -

The Road To Guantanamo
Blindsight


Best Technical Achievement
- Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle
> - Music: Ludvico Einaudi
- Cinematography: Barry Ackroyd
- Make-up: Daniel Phillips
- Production design: Alan MacDonald

Best Achievement In Production



The Road To Guantanamo

Best British Short

Ex Memoria
The 10th Man
Who I Am & What I Want

Raindance Award
The Ballad of AJ Weberman

Best 15 second short
Chrisanthemums The Word
What's The Point?
Fate and Mr McKinley
Death Of The Dinosaurs
Ah, Youth.

Jury: Sandy Lieberson (chair), Reuben Barnes, Martin Childs, anne V Coates, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Alan Cumming, Leo DAvis, Anna Friel, JAson Isaacs, Mick Jones, Damian Lewis, Helen McCrory, Damien O'Donnell, Kelly Reilly, Martin Sherman and Colin Salmon.

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