Yorgos Lanthimos’ acclaimed period drama “The Favourite,” and Bart Layton’s heist movie “American Animals,” have landed the most British Independent Film Award nominations this year, with 13 and 11 apiece. “You Were Never Really Here” also put in a strong showing with 8 noms.
BIFA has made strides to ensure its voters for its awards are mindful of their influences and this year instigated a BFI-backed unconscious bias program for its voting members, juries, committees, and board.
In a record year for female representation – over 40% of nominations in the individual categories are women – Olivia Colman is nominated for best actress for her role as Queen Anne in “The Favourite.” Her co-stars Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz are both up for best supporting actress. The latter also landed a best actress nom for her performance in “Disobedience.”
“The Favourite” also puts in an impressive performance in the technical categories and is nominated in seven of the nine in total. Lanthimos’ film goes up against “American Animals,” “Beast,” “Disobedience,” and “You Were Never Really Here” for best film.
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The best director category features two previous BIFA winners in Bart Layton for “American Animals” and Lynne Ramsay for “You Were Never Really Here.” In a strong year for female representation, Ramsay is, however, the only woman in the category. Andrew Haigh (“Lean on Pete”), Yorgos Lanthimos (“The Favourite”), and Michael Pearce (“Beast”) round out the director noms.
Steve Coogan, Rupert Everett, and Joaquin Phoenix are nominated for best actor, alongside Joe Cole and Charlie Plummer. Steve Buscemi, Barry Keoghan, Dominic West, Evan Peters, and Alessandro Nivola will fight it out for best supporting actor.
Film4 put in a notably strong showing in the 2018 noms, with all five nominations in best director, screenwriter and film categories Film4 productions.
The recipient of The Variety Award, which last year went to Gary Oldman, has yet to be announced. The BIFA ceremony takes place on Dec. 2 in London.
The nominations:
Best British Independent Film
“AMERICAN ANIMALS”
“BEAST”
“DISOBEDIENCE”
“THE FAVOURITE”
“YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE”
Best Director
ANDREW HAIGH (“Lean on Pete”)
YORGOS LANTHIMOS (“The Favourite”)
BART LAYTON (“American Animals”)
MICHAEL PEARCE (“Beast”)
LYNNE RAMSAY (“You Were Never Really Here”)
Best Screenplay
DEBORAH DAVIS, TONY McNAMARA (“The Favourite”)
BART LAYTON (“American Animals”)
SEBASTIAN LELIO, REBECCA LENKIEWICZ (“Disobedience”)
MICHAEL PEARCE (“Beast”)
LYNNE RAMSAY (“You Were Never Really Here”)
Best Actress
GEMMA ARTERTON (“The Escape”)
JESSIE BUCKLEY (“Beast”)
OLIVIA COLMAN (“The Favourite”)
MAXINE PEAKE (“Funny Cow”)
RACHEL WEISZ (“Disobedience”)
Best Supporting Actress
NINA ARIANDA (“Stan & Ollie”)
RACHEL McADAMS (“Disobedience”)
EMMA STONE (“The Favourite”)
RACHEL WEISZ (“The Favourite”)
MOLLY WRIGHT (“Apostasy”)
Best Actor
JOE COLE (“A Prayer Before Dawn”)
STEVE COOGAN (“Stan & Ollie”)
RUPERT EVERETT (“The Happy Prince”)
JOAQUIN PHOENIX (“You Were Never Really Here”)
CHARLIE PLUMMER (“Lean on Pete”)
Best Supporting Actor
STEVE BUSCEMI (“Lean on Pete”)
BARRY KEOGHAN (“American Animals”)
ALESSANDRO NIVOLA (“Disobedience”)
EVAN PETERS (“American Animals”)
DOMINIC WEST (“Colette”)
Most Promising Newcomer
JESSIE BUCKLEY (“Beast”)
MICHAELA COEL (“Been So Long”)
LIV HILL (“Jellyfish”)
MARCUS RUTHERFORD (“Obey”)
MOLLY WRIGHT (“Apostasy”)
The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)
RICHARD BILLINGHAM (“Ray & Liz”)
DANIEL KOKOTAJLO (“Apostasy”)
MATT PALMER (“Calibre”)
MICHAEL PEARCE (“Beast”)
LEANNE WELHAM (“Pili”)
Debut Screenwriter
KAREN GILLAN (“The Party’s Just Beginning”)
DANIEL KOKOTAJLO (“Apostasy”)
BART LAYTON (“American Animals”)
MATT PALMER (“Calibre”)
MICHAEL PEARCE (“Beast”)
Breakthrough Producer
KRISTIAN BRODIE (“Beast”)
JACQUI DAVIES (“Ray & Liz”)
ANNA GRIFFIN (“Calibre”)
MARCIE MACLELLAN (“Apostasy”)
FAYE WARD (“Stan & Ollie”)
The Discovery Award
“THE DIG”
“IRENE’S GHOST”
“A MOMENT IN THE REEDS”
“SUPER NOVEMBER”
“VOYAGEUSE”
Best Documentary
“BEING FRANK: THE CHRIS SIEVEY STORY”
“EVELYN”
“ISLAND”
“NAE PASARAN”
“UNDER THE WIRE”
Best British Short Film
“THE BIG DAY”
“BITTER SEA”
“THE FIELD”
“TO KNOW HIM”
Best International Independent Film
“CAPERNAUM”
“COLD WAR”
“THE RIDER”
“ROMA”
“SHOPLIFTERS”