Ben Fordesman wins BIFA Best Cinematography Award for Love Lies Bleeding

BIFA announced the winners of its ten film craft categories. The announcement was made by BIFA in partnership with Letterboxd.

This year, co-hosts Ella Kemp (London Editor, Letterboxd) and actor Connor Swindells (Sex Education, Barbie) announced the winner of each category from Sea Containers hotel, celebrating the importance of craftspeople in the creative industries.

With 12 BIFA nominations, Rose Glass’s blistering noir Love Lies Bleeding wins Best Cinematography sponsored by Kodak and Molinare for Ben Fordesman. This is Ben’s second BIFA after winning this award in 2020 for his work on Rose Glass’s debut feature Saint Maud.

Kneecap, Rich Peppiatt’s comedy following the west Belfast hip-hop trio and their mission to save their mother tongue, which leads this year’s BIFA nominations with 14, wins four craft awards: Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society and Spotlight for Carla Stronge, Best Editing for Julian Ulrichs and Chris Gill, Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group for Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante and Best Music Supervision for Gary Welch and Jeanette Rehnstrom.

Alex Garland’s explosive imagining of a dystopian near-future America, Civil War, wins Best Effects for David Simpson – his second BIFA win after 2022’s Men and Best Sound for three-time BIFA nominee Glenn Freemantle, Mary H Ellis and two-time BIFA nominee Howard Bargroff.

Best Costume Design goes to Michael O’Connor for Firebrand, the tense drama of Henry VIII’s 6th wife Katherine Parr’s fight for survival in blood soaked Tudor England. Michael O’Connor is a four-time BIFA nominee, with previous nods for his work on The Duchess, Ammonite and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. Battling forbidden love and prejudice, the power of being true to yourself shines in Unicorns, which takes the Best Make-Up & Hair Design BIFA for Lisa Mustafa. Jan Houllevigue wins Best Production Design sponsored by ATC & Broadsword for The Assessment, a future-set tale of a couple’s spiral into psychological nightmare as they fight for the right to have a child.

BIFA introduced nine craft award categories in 2017 to better recognise the wealth of exceptional talent working on British independent films, with Best Music Supervision introduced in 2022. The nominees and winners have been chosen by BIFA voters over the course of three rounds of viewing, discussion and voting.

The winners in all remaining categories will be announced at the 27th BIFA ceremony on Sunday 8th December at The Roundhouse.

—

BIFA 2024 craft category winners

Best Cinematography sponsored by Kodak and Molinare
BEN FORDESMAN Love Lies Bleeding

Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society and Spotlight
CARLA STRONGE Kneecap

Best Costume Design
MICHAEL O’CONNOR Firebrand

Best Editing
JULIAN ULRICHS, CHRIS GILL Kneecap

Best Effects
DAVID SIMPSON Civil War

Best Make-Up & Hair Design
LISA MUSTAFA Unicorns

Best Music Supervision
GARY WELCH, JEANETTE REHNSTROM Kneecap

Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group
MICHAEL ‘MIKEY J’ ASANTE Kneecap

Best Production Design sponsored by ATC and Broadsword
JAN HOULLEVIGUE The Assessment

Best Sound
GLENN FREEMANTLE, MARY H ELLIS, HOWARD BARGROFF Civil War