copperfield wild rose

Source: Film4 / Fable Pictures

‘The Personal History Of David Copperfield’, ‘Wild Rose’

Armando Iannucci’s Charles Dickens adaptation The Personal History Of David Copperfield leads the nominations for the 21st British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), which were revealed today (October 30).

Iannucci’s third feature scored 11 nominations, including one for himself – a best screenplay nod alongside co-writer Simon Blackwell. It also picked up three nominations in the acting categories – best actor for Dev Patel, best supporting actress for Tilda Swinton, and best supporting actor for Hugh Laurie.

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Tom Harper’s Scottish singing drama Wild Rose achieved 10 nominations, including a second successive nod for last year’s Most Promising Newcomer winner, Jessie Buckley, for her role as an aspiring country music star.

There are nine nominations for Peter Strickland’s In Fabric, and eight for Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir, including best actor for Tom Burke.

Among the titles with five nominations are two documentaries – Asif Kapadia’s Diego Maradona, and Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts’ For Sama. The latter makes it into the prestigious best British independent film category, while the directors of both are nominated for best director.

Brian Welsh’s Scottish rave drama Beats and Rupert Goold’s Judy Garland story Judy also have five nominations each, with a best actress nod for Renee Zellweger among the latter.

38 British feature films are nominated across 22 eligible categories. The two further categories are best British short film; and best international independent film, where nominees include Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story and Bong Joon-ho’s Palme d’Or winner Parasite.

The 2019 BIFAs will take place at Old Billingsgate Market in London on Sunday, December 1.

On Tuesday, Irish actor, comedian and writer Aisling Bea was announced as the host of this year’s ceremony.

Distributors

In terms of distributors, Curzon (In Fabric, The Souvenir, Only You, Parasite, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire) are way out in front with 23 nominations this year. They are followed by eOne (Wild Rose, Sorry We Missed You) and Lionsgate (David Copperfield, The Vanishing), both on 12, and Altitude (Beats, Diego Maradona, Days Of The Bagnold Summer) with 11.

This is the first year that films in all the British feature categories have been assessed against the BFI Diversity Standards, after a trial on the best British independent film prize last year.

Two of the five best British independent film nominees are directed or co-directed by a woman; while in the two competitive director categories, three of the 10 nominees are directed or co-directed by a woman.

Four of the six nominees for breakthrough producer are female (with Kate Byers and Linn Waite sharing the nomination for Bait), along with four of the five nominees for debut screenwriter.

Of the 149 names nominated in competitive feature categories (excluding the gender-separated acting categories), 58 (39%) identify as women.

sam adewunmi vicky knight

Source: Screen International/Peter Searle

Sam Adewunmi, Vicky Knight

Two of Screen’s 2019 Stars of Tomorrow are recognised in two categories each; The Last Tree star Sam Adewunmi in best actor, Dirty God lead Vicky Knight in best actress, and both in the most promising newcomer section.

They are two of 10 previous Stars of Tomorrow represented in this year’s nominations, with the others including directors Tom Harper and Fyzal Boulifa; editor Peter Lambert; and actors Jessie Buckley, Holliday Grainger, Jessica Barden, Josh O’Connor, and Dev Patel.

Bifa Nominations 2019

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 Director

  • Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts, For Sama
  • Oliver Hermanus, Moffie
  • Joanna Hogg, The Souvenir
  • Mark Jenkin, Bait
  • Asif Kapadia, Diego Maradona

Best Actress

  • Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose
  • Holliday Grainger, Animals
  • Sally Hawkins, Eternal Beauty
  • Vicky Knight, Dirty God
  • Renee Zellweger, Judy

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 Screenplay

  • 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

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 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

The Douglas Hickox Award (Debut Director)

  • 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

Debut Screenwriter

  • Kieran Hurley, Beats
  • Lisa Owens, Days Of The Bagnold Summer
  • Nicole Taylor, Wild Rose
  • Emma Jane Unsworth, Animals
  • 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

Breakthrough Producer

  • Finn Bruce, Tucked
  • Kate Byers, Linn Waite, Bait
  • Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, Blue Story [Also Produced By Damian Jones]
  • Becky Read, Three Identical Strangers [Also Produced By Grace Hughes-Hallett]
  • Jack Sidey, Moffie [Also Produced By Eric Abraham]

Most Promising Newcomer

  • Sam Adewunmi, The Last Tree
  • Vicky Knight, Dirty God
  • Lorn Macdonald, Beats
  • Roxanne Scrimshaw, Lynn + Lucy
  • Honor Swinton Byrne, The Souvenir

The Discovery Award

  • A Bump Along The Way, Shelly Love
  • Children Of The Snow Land, Zara Balfour, Marcus Stephenson, Mark Hakansson
  • Here For Life, Andrea Luka Zimmerman, Adrian Jackson, James Lingwood, Michael Morris, Cressida Day
  • Muscle, Gerard Johnson, Matthew James Wilkinson, Richard Wylie, Ed Barratt
  • The Street, Zed Nelson

Best British Short Film

  • 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

Best International Independent Film

  • Ash Is Purest White, Jia Zhang-Ke, Shôzô Ichiyama
  • Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach, David Heyman
  • Monos, Alejandro Landes, Alexis Dos Santos, Fernando Epstein, Cristina Landes, Santiago A Zapata
  • Parasite, Bong Joon-Ho, Jan Young-Hwan, Moon Yang-Kwon, Sin-Ae Kwak, Han Jin Won
  • Portrait Of A Lady On Fire, Céline Sciamma, Véronique Cayla, Bénédicte Couvreur

Best Casting

  • Shaheen Baig, In Fabric
  • Shaheen Baig, Aisha Bywaters, The Last Tree
  • Kahleen Crawford, Caroline Stewart, Only You
  • Kahleen Crawford, Wild Rose
  • Sarah Crowe, The Personal History Of David Copperfield

Best Costume Design

  • Suzie Harman, Robert Worley, The Personal History Of David Copperfield
  • Anna Mary Scott Robbins, Wild Rose
  • Grace Snell, The Souvenir
  • Jany Temime, Judy
  • Jo Thompson, In Fabric

Best Cinematography

  • Ole Bratt Birkeland, Judy
  • Benjamin Kracun, Beats
  • Zac Nicholson, The Personal History Of David Copperfield
  • Jamie D Ramsay, Moffie
  • Ari Wegner, In Fabric

Best Editing

  • Mick Audsley, Peter Lambert, The Personal History Of David Copperfield
  • Mark Jenkin, Bait
  • Chris King, Diego Maradona
  • Chloe Lambourne, Simon Mcmahon, For Sama
  • Helle Le Fevre, The Souvenir

Best Effects

  • Howard Jones, A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
  • Paul Mann, In Fabric
  • Andy Quinn, The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind

Best Make Up & Hair Design

  • Morten Jacobsen, Rogier Samuels, Lindelotte Van Der Meer, Dirty God
  • Karen Hartley-Thomas, The Personal History Of David Copperfield
  • Emma Scott, In Fabric
  • Jody Williams, Wild Rose
  • Jeremy Woodhead, Judy

Best Music

  • Jack Arnold, Wild Rose
  • Cavern Of Anti-Matter, In Fabric
  • Nainita Desai, For Sama
  • Antonio Pinto, Diego Maradona
  • Jd Twitch, Penelope Trappes, Stephen Hindman, Beats

Best Production Design

  • Cristina Casali, The Personal History Of David Copperfield
  • Stéphane Collonge, The Souvenir
  • Kave Quinn, Judy
  • Anne Seibel, The White Crow
  • Paki Smith, In Fabric

Best Sound

  • Anna My Bertmark, Jonathan Seale, Jules Woods, Gwen
  • David Bowtle-Mcmillan, Joakim Sundström, Robert Farr, Beats
  • Stephen Griffiths, Tim Cavagin, Max Walsh, Andy Shelley, Diego Maradona
  • Lee Walpole, Colin Nicholson, Stuart Hilliker, Wild Rose
  • Martin Pavey, In Fabric