It was a Kneecap sweep at the 2024 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) in London on Sunday night as Sean Baker’s Anora was named best international indie film.
The cheeky Belfast-based rap trio have become the talk of the town with their “print the legend” biopic, picking up four craft awards at the BIFAs. The team nabbed three more on Sunday: Chiwetel Ejiofor presented the award for best British independent film to director Rich Peppiatt, who also earned best debut screenwriter. Best joint lead went to trio Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin and J.J. Ó Dochartaigh, who played themselves.
The film won seven BIFAs in total, including the craft wins, announced in November: best casting sponsored for Carla Stronge, best editing for Julian Ulrichs and Chris Gill, best original music for Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante and best music supervision for Gary Welch and Jeanette Rehnstrom.
“It’s a real honor to be here,” Peppiatt said while accepting his best debut screenwriter award. “We were at the European Film Awards yesterday and we won fuck all!” He continued: “Films like Kneecap don’t get made without funders who are prepared to take a chance and probably not get their money back. Kneecap‘s done alright — they might actually get their money back.”
The annual ceremony saw BIFA return to London’s Roundhouse venue with host Peter Serafinowicz leading the night. He was joined by presenters including Alicia Vikander, Martin Freeman, Indira Varma and James Norton to celebrate the best of British film.
Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner Anora, the fiery, not-quite Cinderella tale of an exotic dancer and her oligarch Prince Charming took the BIFA for best international feature film. Star Mikey Madison told The Hollywood Reporter on the BIFA red carpet: “I really had no expectations going into the release of this film… I think people have really been loving it, it makes me happy because I have always felt the film was special, and I think it’s special to other people as well. Sean is just dedicated to telling human stories and people resonate with that.”
On the movie’s Oscar buzz, Madison was coy. “I am so happy the film is being celebrated and recognized,” she said. “I think Sean is an absolute visionary, we have so many beautiful, incredible actors in [it]… I want everyone to receive their flowers.”
Thriller Santosh, the U.K.’s entry to the Oscars for best international feature film, took best screenplay for Sandhya Suri. The film, in which a Hindu widow, given a chance at a new life, is forced to face police corruption, also scored breakthrough producer for Balthazar de Ganay and James Bowsher.
Best lead performance went to Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths and best supporting performance went to Franz Rogowski for his role in Andrea Arnold’s fifth feature Bird.
Marianne Jean-Baptiste in ‘Hard Truths.’
Courtesy of TIFF
Best director went to Rungano Nyoni for On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, the writer-director’s exploration of buried secrets and grief within a middle-class Zambian family.
Elsewhere, the cast of Wicked Little Letters, including Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Joanna Scanlan, Gemma Jones, Malachi Kirby, Lolly Adefope, Eileen Atkins, Timothy Spall and Hugh Skinner, earned best ensemble performance.
The previously announced craft winners included Alex Garland’s Civil War and the Kristen Stewart-led movie Love Lies Bleeding.
See below the full list of winners at the British Independent Film Awards 2024:
Best British Independent Film
Kneecap
Best British Short Film
Wander to Wonder
Best Casting
Carla Stronge, Kneecap
Best Cinematography
Ben Fordesman, Love Lies Bleeding
Best Costume Design
Michael O’Connor, Firebrand
Best Debut Screenwriter
Rich Peppiatt, Kneecap
Best Debut Director
Christopher Andrews, Bring Them Down
Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary
Pinny Grylls, Sam Crane, Grand Theft Hamlet
Best Director
Rungano Nyoni, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
Best Editing
Julian Ulrichs, Chris Gill, Kneecap
Best Effects
David Simpson, Civil War
Best Ensemble Performance
Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Joanna Scanlan, Gemma Jones, Malachi Kirby, Lolly Adefope, Eileen Atkins, Timothy Spall and Hugh Skinner, Wicked Little Letters
Best Feature Documentary
Witches
Best International Independent Film
Anora
Best Joint Lead
Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, JJ Ó Dochartaigh, Kneecap
Best Lead Performance
Marianna Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths
Best Make-Up and Hair Design
Lisa Mustafa, Unicorns
Best Music Supervision
Gary Welch, Jeanette Rehnstrom, Kneecap
Best Original Music
Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, Kneecap
Best Production Design
Jan Houllevigue, The Assessment
Best Screenplay
Sandhya Suri, Santosh
Best Sound
Glenn Freemantle, Mary H Ellis, Howard Bargroff, Civil War
Best Supporting Performance
Andrea Arnold, Bird
2024 Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film
Sophie Okonedo
Special Jury Prize
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