The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) announced the 2021 nominees, revealed by Samuel Adewunmi and Mimi Keene live at Curzon Soho in London. This year’s nominees again highlight the wealth of talent and diversity within the British film industry, with 2021’s list featuring some of the greatest names in British cinema and its brightest new talent side by side.
Belfast, Kenneth Branagh’s moving autobiographical tale of life as a young boy in Belfast in 1969 in the midst of the Troubles, receives 11 nominations, with a Best Actress nomination for CaitrÃona Balfe, Best Supporting Actress for Judi Dench, Best Supporting Actor for Ciarán Hinds and a Breakthrough Performance nomination for newcomer Jude Hill. Belfast also receives seven craft nominations, including Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight, Best Cinematography sponsored by Dirty Looks & Kodak, Best Editing, Best Make-Up and Hair Design, Best Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group, Best Production Design and another nomination for BIFA 2020’s Best Costume Design winner Charlotte Walter.
Alongside nominations for Best British Independent Film and Best Director, Philip Barantini’s adrenaline-fuelled, single-take Boiling Point, which follows an up-and-coming chef under extreme pressure, scores a Best Actor nomination for Stephen Graham, Best Supporting Actor for Ray Panthaki, Best Supporting Actress for Vinette Robinson and a Breakthrough Performance nomination for Lauryn Ajufo, as well as a Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood Studio Group nomination for Hester Ruoff. Further nominations include Best Casting sponsored by Spotlight & Casting Society, Best Cinematography sponsored by Dirty Looks & Kodak, Best Production Design and Best Sound supported by Halo. The short version of the film was nominated at BIFA in 2019.
Debut feature directors Aleem Khan (After Love) and Prano Bailey-Bond (Censor) go head-to-head with their films with nine nominations apiece.
Aleem Khan is the only debut filmmaker to receive a Best British Independent Film nomination this year for his film After Love. Khan also earns nominations for Best Director, Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Film, The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) and Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4. In the acting categories, Joanna Scanlon picks up Best Actress, Nathalie Richard Best Supporting Actress and Talid Ariss a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Shaheen Baig is nominated for Best Casting sponsored by Spotlight & Casting Society.
Prano Bailey-Bond is nominated for Best Debut Director and Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4 for Censor, her psychological-horror-mystery set in the world of 1980s video nasties, which also receives a nomination for Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood Studio Group for Helen Jones. BIFA 2020 nominees Annika Summerson (Best Cinematography sponsored by Dirty Looks and Kodak), Mark Towns (Best Editing) and Paulina Rzeszowska (Best Production Design) score nominations again, with Best Effects, Best Make-Up & Hair and Best Sound supported by Halo also featuring.
The Souvenir Part II also receives nine nominations: Best British Independent Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Film for Joanna Hogg, Best Supporting Actor for Richard Ayoade and Best Supporting Actress for Tilda Swinton. Best Costume Design, Best Editing, Best Production Design and Best Make-Up & Hair Design round off its nominations.
Clio Barnard is nominated in the Best Director and Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Film categories for Ali & Ava, which also received a Best British Independent Film nomination, Best Actor for Adeel Akhtar and Best Actress for Claire Rushbrook. Shaheen Baig receives a second nomination for Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight and 2020 nominee Connie Farr gets a nomination for Best Music Universal Music Publishing Group alongside Harry Escott.
Jude Law is nominated for Best Actor in Sean Durkin’s The Nest alongside Carrie Coon with a Best Actress nod. The film also garners nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Film for Sean Durkin, Best Cinematography sponsored by Dirty Looks & Kodak and Best British Independent Film.
Elsewhere in the acting categories, Riz Ahmed (winner of last year’s Debut Screenwriter award) and Lucien-River Chauhan are nominated for their performances in Michael Pearce’s Encounter (which also has nominations for its music and sound). Ruth Wilson is nominated for Harry Wootliff’s True Things and James Norton for Uberto Pasolini’s Nowhere Special.
The team behind debut feature Sweetheart score with nominations for Best Debut Director and Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4 for Marley Morrison. Best Supporting Actress for Jo Hartley and a Breakthrough Performance nomination for Nell Barlow. Michelle Antoniades is nominated for Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood Studio Group, alongside Rob Watson for The Power and Jessica Malik for She Will.
Max Harwood (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie) and Ellora Torchia (In the Earth) are both nominated for Breakthrough Performance. The films have two and three further craft nominations each, respectively. The Electrical Life of Louis Wain has four craft nominations. Dashcam is nominated for Best Effects.
Cathy Brady is nominated in both the Best Debut Director and Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4 categories for her first feature Wildfire. Reggie Yates is also nominated in the latter category for his debut film Pirates, which has two further nominations, including a third casting nod for Shaheen Baig.
Terence Davies’ Benediction is nominated for Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Film and Best Costume Design.
This year’s Best Documentary nominees, sponsored by Intermission Film are Dying to Divorce, I Am Belmaya (also nominated for the Raindance Discovery Award), Keyboard Fantasies, Cow (which has three further craft nominations) and Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché, which is also nominated for Debut Director and for the Raindance Discovery Award. Also nominated in that category are Bank Job, The Bike Thief and Rebel Dykes.
Best International Independent Film sponsored by Champagne Taittinger features nominations for Juho Kuosmanen’s Compartment No. 6, Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow, Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee, Céline Sciamma’s Petite Maman and Ninja Thyberg’s Pleasure.
Nominees for Best British Short, supported by BFI NETWORK, are: Egúngún (Masquerade), FEMME, Night of the Living Dread, Play It Safe and Precious Hair and Beauty, directed by John Ogunmuyiwa who was nominated in 2020 for Mandem.
The Richard Harris Award, introduced in 2002 in honour of Richard Harris, recognises outstanding contribution to British Film by an actor. Previous winners have been Daniel Day Lewis, Julie Walters, John Hurt, Emma Thompson, Judi Dench, Kristin Scott Thomas and Glenda Jackson in 2021. This year’s recipient will be announced in the coming weeks, as will the ceremony host and this year’s juries. Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony on Sunday 5 December.
