As awards season creeps up on us all, this morning at the Regent Street Cinema, The British Independent Film Awards have announced their line-up of nominees for 2019.
The Personal History of David Copperfield leads the list of nominations for the 2019 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), which was announced by British actors Naomi Ackie and Joe Cole. Armando Iannucci’s fresh take on Dickens’ novel about the ups and downs in the life of its eponymous character is recognised for Best British Independent Film and Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Films, amongst nine other awards including Dev Patel for Best Actor, with co-stars Tilda Swinton and Hugh Laurie competing in the respective Supporting categories.
Completing the five Best British Independent Film nominations alongside The Personal History of David Copperfield are Bait (4 nominations), For Sama (5 nominations), The Souvenir (8 nominations) and Wild Rose (10 nominations). There are 38 British feature films nominated across the awards, which have been narrowed down from a field of over 80 entries this year by 250 of BIFA’s voters.
Also in news – Michael Keaton joins Aaron Sorkin’s ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’
Sally Hawkins and Jessie Buckley join Holliday Grainger and Renee Zellweger in the line-up for Best Actress while Dev Patel joins Josh O’Connor, Tom Burke, Kris Hitchen and Sam Adewunmi for Best Actor. Supporting nominations go to Tilda Swinton for her role in ‘The Personal History of David Copperfield, Julie Walters for Wild Rose and Elizabeth Debicki for Vita and Virginia. Hugh Laurie and Chiwetel Ejiofor also appear in the list for Supporting Actor.
We were on the ground at this morning’s announcement ceremony to talk to a few of the lucky nomination recipients’ You can watch all our interviews below.
Joe Cole & Naomi Ackie BIFA Nominations 2019
The list of nominations includes;
Best British Independent Film
BAIT – Mark Jenkin, Kate Byers, Linn Waite
FOR SAMA – Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts
THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD – Armando Iannucci, Simon Blackwell, Kevin Loader
THE SOUVENIR – Joanna Hogg, Luke Schiller
WILD ROSE – Tom Harper, Nicole Taylor, Faye Ward
Best Actress
JESSIE BUCKLEY – Wild Rose
HOLLIDAY GRAINGER – Animals
SALLY HAWKINS – Eternal Beauty
VICKY KNIGHT – Dirty God
RENEE ZELLWEGER – Judy
Best Actor
SAM ADEWUNMI – The Last Tree
TOM BURKE – The Souvenir
KRIS HITCHEN – Sorry We Missed You
JOSH O’CONNOR – Only You
DEV PATEL – The Personal History of David Copperfield
Best Supporting Actress
JESSICA BARDEN – Scarborough
RUTHXJIAH BELLENEA – The Last Tree
ELIZABETH DEBICKI – Vita & Virginia
TILDA SWINTON – The Personal History of David Copperfield
JULIE WALTERS – Wild Rose
Best Supporting Actor
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR – The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
HUGH LAURIE – The Personal History of David Copperfield
EDLISON MANUEL OLBERA NÚÑEZ Yuli – The Carlos Acosta Story
PETER MULLAN – The Vanishing
BLUEY ROBINSON – Dirty God
Best Director (sponsored by Broadsword Event House)
WAAD AL-KATEAB, EDWARD WATTS – For Sama
OLIVER HERMANUS – Moffie
JOANNA HOGG – The Souvenir
MARK JENKIN – Bait
ASIF KAPADIA – Diego Maradona
Best Screenplay (sponsored by BBC Films)
JOANNA HOGG – The Souvenir
ARMANDO IANNUCCI, SIMON BLACKWELL – The Personal History of David Copperfield
PAUL LAVERTY – Sorry We Missed You
PETER STRICKLAND – In Fabric
NICOLE TAYLOR – Wild Rose
The Douglas Hickox Award (Debut Director) (sponsored by Kodak & Pinewood)
WILL BECHER, RICHARD PHELAN – A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
FYZAL BOULIFA – Lynn + Lucy
NINIAN DOFF – Boyz in the Wood
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR – The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
HARRY WOOTLIFF – Only You
Best Documentary
COUP 53 – Taghi Amirani, Walter Murch, Paul Zaentz
DIEGO MARADONA – Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees, Paul Martin
FOR SAMA – Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts
SEAHORSE – Jeanie Finlay, Andrea Cornwell
TELL ME WHO I AM – Ed Perkins, Simon Chinn
Best British Short Film supported by BFI NETWORK
ANNA – Dekel Berenson, Merlin Merton, Olga Beskhmelnitsyna
BOILING POINT – Philip Barantini, Bart Ruspoli, James Cummings, Gabriella Callea, Grace Nelder
THE DEVIL’S HARMONY – Dylan Holmes Williams, Jess O’Kane, Nathan Craig
GOLDFISH – Hector Dockrill, Laura Dockrill, Benedict Turnbull, Harri Kamalanathan
SERIOUS TINGZ – Abdou Cissé, Kieran Kenlock, Matt Ellingham
For the full list of nominations, head over to the BIFA Awards website
Winners will be announced at the British Independent Film Award Ceremony on Sunday 1 December at Old Billingsgate. The ceremony will be hosted by award-winning stand-up, writer and actress Aisling Bea.