Last night the British Independent Film Awards had their awards ceremony at the Roundhouse with host Peter Serafinowicz and star awards presenters including Alicia Vikander, Martin Freeman, Indira Varma, and James Norton who joined nominees and guests to celebrate the wealth of talent across British Independent film and beyond. As expected -due to high Brit industry buzz- Kneecap was the big winner with 7 awards including Best British Independent Film, Best Debut Screenwriter, and Best Joint Lead. Undoubtedly the best quote from an acceptance speech comes from Rich Peppiat when he said: "There is an irony in the Best British film being Irish". LOL
Best director went to Rungano Nyoni for his second feature after fabulous I Am Not A Witch and perhaps the most interesting award because of the recipients is the Best Ensemble Performance that went to Wicked Little Letters with a fantastic cast that includes Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Anjana Vasan, Joanna Scanlan, Gemma Jones, Malachi Kirby, Lolly Adefope, Eillen Atkins, Timothy Spall and Hugh Skinner. Yes, I have seen Wicked Little Letters and my mini-review goes like this, a very-very-British dry comedy, maybe missing a higher touch of beloved Brit dark humor.
The 2024 Winners
Best British Independent Film: Kneecap, Rich Peppiatt
The Raindance Maverick Award: Grand Theft Hamlet, Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane (documentary)
Best International Independent Film: Anora, Sean Baker
Best Feature Documentary: Witches, Elizabeth Sankey
Best Director: Rungano Nyoni for On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
Best Debut Director: Christopher Andrews for Bring Them Down
Best Debut Director - Feature Documentary: Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane for Grand Theft Hamlet
Best Screenplay: Sandhya Suri for Santosh
Best Debut Screenwriter: Rich Peppiatt for Kneecap, Rich Peppiatt
Brakthrough Producer: Balthazar de Ganay and James Bowsher for Santosh
Best Casting: Carla Stronge for Kneecap, Rich Peppiatt
Best Lead Performance: Marianne Jean-Baptiste in Hard Truths
Best Joint Lead Performance: Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, and JJ Ó Dochartaigh in Kneecap, Rich Peppiatt
Best Supporting Performance: Franz Rogowski in Bird
Breakthrough Performance: Susan Chardy in On Becoming A Guinea Fowl
Best Ensemble Performance: the Cast of Wicked Little Letters
Best Cinematography: Ben Fordesman for Love Lies Bleeding
Best Costume Design: Michael O'Connor for Firebrand
Best Editing: Julian Ulrichs and Chris Gill for Kneecap, Rich Peppiatt
Best Make-up and Hair Design: Lisa Mustafa for Unicorns
Best Music Supervision: Gary Welch and Jeanette Rehnstrom for Kneecap, Rich Peppiatt
Best Original Music: Michael 'Mikey J" Asante for Kneecap, Rich Peppiatt
Best Production Design: Jan Houllevigue for The Assessment
Best Sound: Glenn Freemantle, Mary H Ellis and Howard Bargroff for Civil War
Best Effects: David Simpson for Civil War
Best British Short Film: Wander to Wonder, Nina Gantz
Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film: Sophie Okonedo
Special Jury Prize: Fully Focused / Million Youth Media (production company)
To check winners at official site go here. Up-to-this-moment the list in previous link does not include Ensemble, so if you wish to confirm this award go to official site press release here.