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.
The award for 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.
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.
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
Queen, Bianca Stigter, Floor Onrust, Anna Smith-Tenser
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 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 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 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 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
Find out the rest of thw winners her www.bifa.film
