A prison drama not scheduled for release until over three months’ time heads up the list of nominations for this year’s British Independent Film Awards.
David Mackenzie’s Starred Up, which stars Jack O’Connell, receives eight nominations, including Best British Independent Film, Best Director and Best Actor. Hot on its heels, with seven nods, is Clio Barnard’s acclaimed The Selfish Giant. As well as scoring in the Film, Screenplay and Director categories, its two young leads, Conner Chapman and Shaun Thomas are jointly nominated in the Most Promising Newcomer category, while Siobhan Finneran (ex-Downton Abbey) is up for Best Supporting Actress as a mother teetering close to the edge.
Big names also feature on the list. While Stephen Frears doesn’t get a nod for directing Philomena, the film receives four nominations in major categories – Best Film, Actress (Judi Dench), Actor (Steve Coogan) and Screenplay for Coogan and Jeff Pope. That last one is likely to be repeated for most of the awards over the next few months.
Roger Michell’s Le Week-End is just in front with five nominations – again, Best Film, Screenplay, Actress (Lindsay Duncan) and Actor (Jim Broadbent), with Jeff Goldblum earning a nomination in the Supporting Actor category. Other big names among the nominees include James McEvoy (Best Actor for Filth), Tom Hardy (Best Actor for Locke) and Scarlett Johnasson (Best Actress for Under The Skin).
Inevitably, the list raises some questions. For me, it’s all about Ralph Fiennes’ The Invisible Woman. It gets just two nods – Felicity Jones for Best Actress and Kristen Scott Thomas for Best Supporting Actress. Yet Joanna Scanlan is a no-show in the latter category, despite a heart breaking performance as Catherine Dickens and there’s nothing for actor/director Fiennes himself in any shape or form.
For the full list of nominees, go to http://www.bifa.org.uk/releases/2013-nominations-announced-for-the-16th-annual-british-independent-film-awards
The BIFAs will be handed out on Sunday, 8 December and there’ll be a full run-down of the winners and also-rans on The Coops Review.
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