Bifa Raindance Maverick longlist includes Ben Wheatley’s ‘Bulk’

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BULK_STILL

Source: Rook Films

‘Bulk’

EXCLUSIVE: 15 features have been longlisted for the Raindance Maverick award at the British Independent Film Awards (Bifas), including Ben Wheatley’s Film4-backed sci-fi Bulk.

Written by Wheatley and produced by Andy Starke for Rook Films, Bulk sees an overzealous scientist push his experiments with string theory too far, causing his ‘brane’ (not ‘brain’) to explode.

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The film had its world premiere as the opening night of the Midnight Madness strand at Edinburgh International Film Festival this summer.

Sam Riley, Noah Taylor, Alexandra Maria Lara and Mark Monero lead the cast. Wheatley has a long history with Raindance and the Bifas: his low-budget debut Down Terrace won the Raindance jury prize for best UK feature in 2009, while he has been nominated for the Bifa for best director on three occasions.

The Raindance Maverick award at the Bifas is for fiction features produced for under £1m, or documentaries under £500,000.

Other longlisted films include Charlie Shackleton’s Zodiac Killer Project, also on the best feature documentary longlist announced yesterday by Screen; and Victoria Mapplebeck’s smartphone-filmed Motherboard, which is on the documentary and best debut director – feature documentary lists.

Sophie Compton and Daisy-May Hudson’s Holloway is also listed, having made the documentary list and breakthrough producer list for Polly Creed. Hudson has two films in contention at the Bifas this year, with her drama Lollipop one of four films to feature five times on the longlists.

The longlists have previously been announced for breakthrough performance, new talent categories, documentary, and best international feature film.

The Bifa nominations in every category will be announced on Monday, November 3. Winners will be unveiled at the Bifa ceremony at the Camden Roundhouse in London on Sunday, November 30.

Last year’s Maverick award went to Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane’s documentary Grand Theft Hamlet.