The British Independent Film Awards are an odd, under-the-radar institution that frequently like to avoid the obvious and champion the underdog. Last year, for example, they bypassed the starrier likes of “Eastern Promises” and “Notes on a Scandal” to award their top prize to Anton Corbijn’s magnificent, under-rewarded “Control.” The previous year, they were even more daring: Best Film justly went to “This Is England” over “The Queen,” while Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker — gasp — lost to the unknown leads of Andrea Arnold’s “Red Road.”
So it is this year that the nominations feature one doozy of a snub: while the top prize, Best British Independent Film, features such obvious contenders as “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Hunger,” Mike Leigh’s “Happy-Go-Lucky” is nowhere to be found. Ditto Best Director and Best Screenplay — the omission particularly galling when the likes of (gack) “Son of Rambow” made the cut. Did Leigh run over the voters’ dogs or something? Sanity at least prevailed in the acting categories, where Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan and the wonderful Alexis Zegerman all made the cut.
Zegerman’s category, Best Supporting Actress, is an indication of how slim the pickings were this year: nods for the mediocre likes of Hayley Atwell in “The Duchess” and Sienna Miller in “The Edge of Love” don’t suggest a very deep pool of nominees. Meanwhile, Kristin Scott Thomas’ mention for the fun but flimsy trifle “Easy Virtue,” which I saw this morning at the Festival, is clearly an indirect nomination for her ineligible awards-bound work in “I’ve Loved You So Long.”
Still, there’s plenty to cheer about here, not least the impressive showing for Martin McDonagh’s superb “In Bruges,” which jointly leads the field with “Hunger,” both films receiving seven nominations. The inevitability of the nominations for “Hunger” and “Slumdog Millionaire” doesn’t make them any less deserving, and “Man on Wire” is a pleasingly left-field choice in the top category.
By comparison, one has to query the “independent” qualifications of a title like “The Duchess,” which nonetheless scored four nods, including a nomination for Keira Knightley, one of two Supporting Actor nods for Ralph Fiennes (much better in “In Bruges,” in my opinion) and a technical citation for Michael O’Connor’s spectacular costuming.
The ceremony will take place at the Old Billingsgate Market (a typically off-centre choice of venue) on November 30. These awards are always tough to call, but if I were a betting man, I’d take a flutter on “Hunger” cleaning up. Sally Hawkins and the extraordinary Michael Fassbender seem almost too obvious as victors in the lead acting categories, but the competition is pretty lean this year.
The full list of nominations:
BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
Hunger
In Bruges
Man on Wire
Slumdog Millionaire
Somers Town
BEST DIRECTOR
Mark Herman – The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Steve McQueen – Hunger
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Shane Meadows – Somers Town
Garth Jennings – Son of Rambow
THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD [BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR]
James Watkins – Eden Lake
Rupert Wyatt – The Escapist
Steve McQueen – Hunger
Martin McDonagh – In Bruges
Eran Creevy – Shifty
BEST SCREENPLAY
Enda Walsh, Steve McQueen – Hunger
Martin McDonagh – In Bruges
Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
Paul Fraser – Somers Town
Garth Jennings – Son of Rambow
BEST ACTRESS
Vera Farmiga – The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Samantha Morton – The Daisy Chain
Keira Knightley – The Duchess
Kelly Reilly – Eden Lake
Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
BEST ACTOR
Michael Fassbender – Hunger
Colin Farrell – In Bruges
Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges
Riz Ahmed – Shifty
Thomas Turgoose – Somers Town
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emma Thompson – Brideshead Revisited
Hayley Atwell – The Duchess
Kristin Scott Thomas – Easy Virtue
Sienna Miller – The Edge of Love
Alexis Zegerman – Happy-Go-Lucky
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ralph Fiennes – The Duchess
Eddie Marsan – Happy-Go-Lucky
Liam Cunningham – Hunger
Ralph Fiennes – In Bruges
Daniel Mays – Shifty
MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER
Asa Butterfield – The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Dev Patel – Slumdog Millionaire
Ayush Mahesh Khedekar – Slumdog Millionaire
Bill Milner – Son of Rambow
Will Poulter – Son of Rambow
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
The Daisy Chain
The Escapist
Hush
Shifty
Telstar
RAINDANCE AWARD
Clubbed
Flick
One Day Removals
Zebra Crossings
BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Wardrobe – Michael O’Connor – The Duchess
Cinematography – Sean Bobbitt – Hunger
Editing – Jon Gregory – In Bruges
Music – Harry Escott, Molly Nyman – Shifty
Cinematography – Anthony Dod Mantle – Slumdog Millionaire
BEST DOCUMENTARY
A Complete History of My Sexual Failures
Derek
Man on Wire
Of Time and The City
Three Miles North of Molkom
BEST BRITISH SHORT
Alex And Her Arse Truck
Gone Fishing
Love Does Grow On Trees
Red Sands
Soft
BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Diving Bell & The Butterfly
Gomorrah
I’ve Loved You So Long
Persepolis
Waltz With Bashir
THE RICHARD HARRIS AWARD (for outstanding contribution to British Film)
David Thewlis
THE VARIETY AWARD
Michael Sheen
Comments
12 responses to “‘Hunger,’ ‘Bruges’ lead British Independent nominees”
Great to see Ralph Fiennes score double nominations, especially for his sublime work in “In Bruges.”
Yes to his work in “In Bruges.” However, I think I’m the only person who really didn’t respond to his work in “The Duchess.”
By rights, however, Marsan should walk that category. Different league.
Guy, I’m in agreement that Fiennes didn’t do it for me in “The Duchess.” I kind of liked the film overall — the story, the voice captured me a touch — but Fiennes was the least of the reasons for that.
I actually though Hayley Atwell gave the strongest performance in The Duchess. She didn’t have that many lines, but the tension she brought to the table was onderfully displayed in her eyes. As for the film itself, it was okay, but I would’ve liked it more if it focused on the political side of Georgiana Spencer’s life and less on her marriage. Like most people, I loved “In Bruges” and would love to see it win a few awards here. And any of the actors from Happy-Go-Lucky would be great to see win, because this is one film where the acting is truly special. I haven’t seen the rest of the films, but I’ll look for them.
Boy, I gotta be honest: I borderline hated “In Bruges.” It reminded me a lot of “Enduring Love,” another painful experience. Loved Fiennes, though.
Why on earth do you have to question the “independent” qualifications of a film like The Duchess? What major studio secretly paid for all of it? Have you read the BIFAs official criteria for elegibility? Where is the problem?
I agree “Enduring Love” was dreadful… don’t really see any similarity to “In Bruges,” but hey.
Something tells me our year-end Top 10 lists are going to look somewhat different! Always healthy.
I love the love for “Son of Rambow.” I loved that movie. But that’s me…
Enduring Love…dreadful? Really? I thought it was incredible…the script was great and all of the performances were beyond intense. Great, moody cinematography. And I’ll never go up in a hot air balloon!
But I liked In Bruges even more.
Am I the only one who wasn’t wowed by Man on Wire? It seemed to me that it would have made an excellent short documentary, but stretched to 90 minutes, it was rather thin for me.
Loved In Bruges though, but something tells me this is going to be the only awards group that mentions it.
[…] Just a reminder that the British Independent Film Awards take place tonight. I’ll try and deliver the results as soon as they are available, but for now, I’ve ventured some predictions after the cut. A full list of nominations, and discussion thereof, is here: […]