David Farnor | On 03, Nov 2015

The Moët British Independent Film Awards have unveiled the nominations for 2015 – and the list is a reminder of both the awards’ and VOD’s importance to indie film.

Now in their 18th year, the BIFAs have become a platform to showcase creative talent and smaller productions that could otherwise be overlooked. This is true regardless of genre: Ex Machina, which is one of the best sci-fi thrillers of the year, wouldn’t stand a chance at being nominated at the BAFTAs or Oscars, but is given a deserved place among the big hitters in the BIFA line-up, with five nods to its names – the same as Brooklyn and Asif Kapadia’s heartbreaking Amy Winehouse documentary, Amy.

The Lobster leads the way with seven nominations, including Best British Independent Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Producer of the Year. Colin Farrell is nominated for Best Actor and Olivia Colman and Ben Whishaw for their supporting roles. Macbeth is in joint second place with six nods, including Best British Independent Film and Best Director.

There is an emphasis on celebrating upcoming names, with this year’s Most Promising Newcomers including Agyness Deyn for Sunset Song, Mia Goth for The Survivalist, Abigail Hardingham for Nina Forever, Milo Parker for Mr Holmes and Bel Powley for A Royal Night Out. Nina Forever and The Survivalist are both nominated for The Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director for directors The Blaine Brothers and Stephen Fingleton. The other first-time directors nominated are John Maclean for Slow West, Corin Hardy for The Hallow and Paul Katis for Kajaki: The True Story.

But what is revealing is just how much crossover there is between BIFA’s selection and this year’s streaming titles. BIFA will be screening some of the nominated films in conjuction with the BFI later this month, but digital distribution has also played a vital role in giving smaller films exposure – not least some of 2015’s best BIFA contenders.

The nominations for the new Discovery Award, which recognises innovation and vision in lower-budget films, include Orion: The Man Who Would be King, which was released on VOD last month, and Steve Oram’s AAAAAAAAH!, which is one of the first titles to be released under Icon and FrightFest’s innovative new digital label, FrightFest Presents. (For a review and a list of where to watch it online, head this way.)

Up for Best Filmm, as well as Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay and Producer of the Year, is 45 Years, which broke records this year by becoming the first ever day-and-date release to make over £1 million at the UK theatrical box office. The movie, which was also released on streaming site Curzon Home Cinema, broke sales records online too.

Director Andrew Haigh told us in an interview that VOD is “absolutely essential” for independent cinema.

“It feels to me that you see what art house films make in the cinema and most of them make absolutely nothing and it’s really sad, because some of them are good films and people just aren’t going to the cinema to see them. And it’s because cinemas are expensive and you’re probably only going to see two things a month, if you’re lucky, and you’re probably going to go and see Jurassic World. And so how do people get to see interesting work?”

The winners of the 2015 BIFAs will be announced on Sunday 6th December at Old Billingsgate. And before you ask, the answer is yes: you will be able to stream it live online at www.bifa.film.

Here’s a full list of the nominees:

Best British Independent Film sponsored by Moët & Chandon

45 YEARS Tristan Goligher, Andrew Haigh
AMY James Gay-Rees, Asif Kapadia
EX MACHINA Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Alex Garland
THE LOBSTER Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Efthymis Filippou, Yorgos Lanthimos
MACBETH Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Laura Hastings-Smith, Todd Louiso, Jacob Koskoff, Michael Lesslie, Justin Kurzel

Best Director

45 YEARS Andrew Haigh
AMY Asif Kapadia
EX MACHINA Alex Garland
THE LOBSTER Yorgos Lanthimos
MACBETH Justin Kurzel

Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Films

45 YEARS Andrew Haigh
BROOKLYN Nick Hornby
EX MACHINA Alex Garland
HIGH-RISE Amy Jump
THE LOBSTER Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou

Best Actress sponsored by MAC

MARION COTILLARD Macbeth
CAREY MULLIGAN Suffragette
CHARLOTTE RAMPLING 45 Years
SAOIRSE RONAN Brooklyn
ALICIA VIKANDER The Danish Girl

Best Actor sponsored by Movado

TOM COURTENAY 45 Years
COLIN FARRELL The Lobster
MICHAEL FASSBENDER Macbeth
TOM HARDY Legend
TOM HIDDLESTON High-Rise

Best Supporting Actress

HELENA BONHAM CARTER Suffragette
OLIVIA COLMAN The Lobster
ANNE-MARIE DUFF Suffragette
SIENNA MILLER High-Rise
JULIE WALTERS Brooklyn

Best Supporting Actor

LUKE EVANS High-Rise
BRENDAN GLEESON Suffragette
DOMHNALL GLEESON Brooklyn
SEAN HARRIS Macbeth
BEN WHISHAW The Lobster

Most Promising Newcomer sponsored by The London Edition

AGYNESS DEYN Sunset Song
MIA GOTH The Survivalist
ABIGAIL HARDINGHAM Nina Forever
MILO PARKER Mr Holmes
BEL POWLEY A Royal Night Out

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by 3 Mills Studios

THE HALLOW Corin Hardy
KAJAKI: THE TRUE STORY Paul Katis
NINA FOREVER Chris & Ben Blaine
SLOW WEST John Maclean
THE SURVIVALIST Stephen Fingleton

The Discovery Award sponsored by Raindance

AAAAAAAAH! Andrew Starke, Steve Oram
BURN BURN BURN Daniel-Konrad Cooper, Tim Phillips, Charlie Covell, Chanya Button
ORION: THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING Jeanie Finlay
THE RETURN Oliver Nias
WINTER Tilly Wood, Paula Crickard, Heidi Greensmith

Best Documentary

AMY James Gay-Rees, Asif Kapadia
DARK HORSE: THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY OF DREAM ALLIANCE Judith Dawson, Louise Osmond
HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD Bous De Jong, Al Morrow, Jerry Rothwell
PALIO James Gay-Rees, John Hunt, Cosima Spender
A SYRIAN LOVE STORY Elhum Shakerifar, Sean McAllister

Producer of the Year

TRISTAN GOLIGHER 45 Years
JAMES GAY-REES Amy
PAUL KATIS, ANDREW DE LOTBINIERE Kajaki: The True Story
CECI DEMPSEY, ED GUINEY, YORGOS LANTHIMOS, LEE MAGIDAY The Lobster
DAVID A HUGHES, DAVID MOORES The Violators

Outstanding Achievement in Craft

ADAM ARKAPAW Cinematography – Macbeth
MARK DIGBY Production Design – Ex Machina
CHRIS KING Editing – Amy
FIONA WEIR Casting – Brooklyn
ANDREW WHITEHURST Visual Effects, Ex Machina

Best British Short Film

BALCONY Tom Kimberly, Ali Mansuri, Toby Fell-Holden
CRACK Joseph Taussig, Peter King
EDMOND Emilie Jouffroy, Nina Gantz
LOVE IS BLIND Lizzie Brown, Dan Hodgson
MANoMAN Kamilla Kristiane Hodøl, Simon Cartwright

Best International Independent Film

CAROL Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley, Christine Vachon, Phyllis Nagy, Todd Haynes
FORCE MAJEURE Erik Hemmendorff, Marie Kjellson, Philippe Bober, Ruben Östlund
GIRLHOOD Bénédicte Couvreur, Céline Sciamma
ROOM Ed Guiney, David Gross, Emma Donoghue, Lenny Abrahamson
SON OF SAUL Gábor Sipos, Gábor Rajna, Cara Royer, László Nemes

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