David Farnor | On 05, Dec 2022

The winners for the 25th British Independent Film Awards have been announced, and MUBI has emerged as the streaming champion, with both Aftersun and The Worst Person in the World leading the pack.

The award for Best British Independent Film went to Aftersun, Charlotte Wells’ directorial debut, which is out now in cinemas and will stream on MUBI at a future date. Charlotte scooped three further BIFA awards – Best Director, The Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director and Best Screenplay, to add to Aftersun’s three craft awards: Best Cinematography for Gregory Oke, Best Editing for Blair McClendon and the new Best Music Supervision award for Lucy Bright.

Best Lead Performance went to Rosy McEwen and Best Supporting Performance to Kerrie Hayes for their roles in Georgia Oakley’s 1980s Section 28 era-set Blue Jean, which also saw Georgia awarded the Best Debut Screenwriter prize. The Best Casting award went to Shaheen Baig for her work on the film.

The Breakthrough Performance prize went to Safia Oakley-Green in The Origin, Andrew Cumming’s multi-nominated debut feature. Further new categories for 2022 saw Best Joint Lead Performance awarded to Tamara Lawrance and Letitia Wright for their roles as siblings in The Silent Twins, and Our River… Our Sky took home the Best Ensemble award for cast members including Zainab Joda, Darina Al Joundi, Amed Hashimi, Mahmoud Abo Al Abbas, Basim Hajar, Labwa Arab, Meriam Abbas and Siham Mustafa.

Glory in the documentary awards categories went to Nothing Compares, which won both the Best Feature Documentary and Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary BIFAs for director Kathryn Ferguson.

Hassan Nazer’s Iran-set Winners won the Raindance Discovery Award, also scoring the Breakthrough Producer award win for Nadira Murray.

Best British Short Film went to Too Rough. Other winners included Jenny Beavan for Best Costume Design for her work on Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, Eugene Souleiman and Scarlett O’Connell for Best Make-Up and Hair Design for Medusa Deluxe, Helen Scott for Best Production Design for Living, David Simpson for Best Effects for Men and Tim Harrison, Raoul Brand and Cassandra Rutledge for Best Sound for gastronomic soundscape Flux Gourmet.

The 2022 Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film was presented to Samantha Morton. The Special Jury Prize was given to Open Door for their work helping talented young people without financial support or resources gain places at leading UK drama schools.

Netflix’s The Wonder, which went into the night as one of the most nominated films, took home the Best Original Music prize for Matthew Herbert’s score. And the Best International Independent Film went to Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, which is already streaming on MUBI.

Here’s the full list of the winners:

 

Best British Independent Film

AFTERSUN Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson
 

Best Director

CHARLOTTE WELLS Aftersun
 

Best Screenplay

CHARLOTTE WELLS Aftersun
 

Best Lead Performance

ROSY McEWEN Blue Jean
 

Best Supporting Performance

KERRIE HAYES Blue Jean
 

Best Joint Lead Performance

TAMARA LAWRANCE, LETITIA WRIGHT The Silent Twins
 

Best Ensemble Performance

OUR RIVER… OUR SKY Ensemble including Zainab Joda, Darina Al Joundi, Amed Hashimi, Mahmoud Abo Al Abbas, Basim Hajar, Labwa Arab, Meriam Abbas, Siham Mustafa
 

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)

CHARLOTTE WELLS Aftersun
 

Breakthrough Producer

NADIRA MURRAY Winners [also produced by Paul Welsh]
 

Breakthrough Performance

SAFIA OAKLEY-GREEN The Origin
 

Best Debut Screenwriter

GEORGIA OAKLEY Blue Jean
 

Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary

KATHRYN FERGUSON Nothing Compares
 

The Raindance Discovery Award

WINNERS Hassan Nazer, Nadira Murray, Paul Welsh
 

Best Feature Documentary

NOTHING COMPARES Kathryn Ferguson, Eleanor Emptage, Michael Mallie
 

Best British Short Film

TOO ROUGH Sean Lìonadh, Ross McKenzie, Alfredo Covelli
 

Best International Independent Film

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Thomas Robsahm
 

Best Casting

SHAHEEN BAIG Blue Jean
 

Best Cinematography

GREGORY OKE Aftersun
 

Best Costume Design

JENNY BEAVAN Mrs Harris Goes to Paris
 

Best Editing

BLAIR McCLENDON Aftersun
 

Best Original Music

MATTHEW HERBERT The Wonder
 

Best Make-Up & Hair Design

EUGENE SOULEIMAN, SCARLETT O’CONNELL Medusa Deluxe
 

Best Effects

DAVID SIMPSON Men
 

Best Music Supervision

LUCY BRIGHT Aftersun
 

Best Sound

TIM HARRISON, RAOUL BRAND, CASSANDRA RUTLEDGE Flux Gourmet
 

Best Production Design

HELEN SCOTT Living
 

The Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film

Samantha Morton

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