David Farnor | On 04, Nov 2023

The British Independent Film Awards nominations have been revealed, and Rye Lane and Scrapper are leading the pack.

Rye Lane, Raine Allen-Miller’s London-set romantic comedy following a pair of semi-reluctant lovers on an impromptu tour of Peckham, has 16 nominations, with nodss for Allen-Miller for Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema and The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by BBC Film. It also has nominations for Best Screenplay sponsored by Apple Original Films and Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4 for writing duo Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia, as well as a nod for Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo for Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios. Stars Vivian Oparah and David Jonsson score a Best Joint Lead Performance nomination and Vivian Oparah is also nominated in Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix.

The uplifting story of a grieving young girl as she negotiates the reappearance of an absent father she doesn’t want, but just might need, Scrapper has 14 nods in total – including four nominations for debut feature filmmaker Charlotte Regan: Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema, Best Screenplay sponsored by Apple Original Films, Best Debut Director sponsored by BBC Film and Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4. Its other nods include Best British Independent Film. The film features in Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios for Theo Barrowclough, Best Joint Lead Performance for stars Harris Dickinson and Lola Campbell – who also scores a nod in Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix. It has a further six nominations in craft categories: Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight, Best Cinematography sponsored by Harbor & Kodak (for multi-nominated Molly Manning Walker), Best Costume Design, Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group, Best Sound supported by Halo and Best Production Design sponsored by ATC & Broadsword.  

BIFA veteran Andrew Haigh returns with All of Us Strangers, a beautifully unsettling tale of a writer drawn back to his past and towards a mysterious new relationship, which also receives 14 nominations including Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema and Best Screenplay sponsored by Apple Original Films for Haigh and Best British Independent Film. In the performance categories Andrew Scott picks up a Best Lead Performance nomination, and Jamie Bell, Claire Foy and Paul Mescal grab a Best Supporting Performance nod each. Seven craft nominations round out the All of Us Strangers haul. 

Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature, How to Have Sex, has 13 nominations. The film explores an uncomfortable reality for three teenage girls when their wild summer holiday in Malia goes awry. As well as nominations for Manning Walker for Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema, Best Screenplay sponsored by Apple Original Films, The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by BBC Film, Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4 and Best British Independent Film, the film  also receives Best Lead Performance and Breakthrough Performance nominations for star Mia McKenna- Bruce, Best Supporting Performance nods for Samuel Bottomley and Shaun Thomas and four craft nominations. 

2021 BIFA Best Short Film winners Sam H Freeman and Ng Choon Ping return and take 11 nominations for their debut feature Femme – a tense, taut thriller in which the desire for revenge turns into something more for a victim of a homophobic attack. Accolades include Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema, Best Screenplay sponsored by Apple Original Films, The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by BBC Film and Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4 for the writer/director pair, plus Best British Independent Film. 2009 BIFA nominee George McKay and co-star Nathan Stewart-Jarrett take the final Best Joint Lead Performance nomination, with Femme scoring a further five craft nominations. 
A young family is torn apart in the aftermath of an environmental crisis in Mahalia Belo’s poetic debut feature The End We Start From, which receives seven craft nominations plus Best Lead Performance for Jodie Comer and Best Supporting Performance for Katherine Waterston for a total of nine nods.

Nida Manzoor makes her BIFA debut with Polite Society, a fun-filled, punch-packing comedy about two sisters navigating traditional values and suspect fiancé choices and takes a Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4 nomination, while newcomer Priya Kansara takes a Breakthrough Performance spot and star Ritu Arya adds a Best Supporting Performance nomination to the film’s five nominations. 

A pregnant single mother embraces her community as she fights to reclaim her family in Earth Mama, nominated in three categories: The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by BBC Film for Savanah Leaf, Best Lead Performance for Tia Nomore and a Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight nod. 
Le’Shantey Bonsu is the final Breakthrough Performance nominee for her role as eleven-year-old Ama, dealing with the effects of her traumatised mother’s past in Adura Onashile’s debut feature Girl, which also receives a nomination for Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group. 

Alexandra Burke receives a Best Supporting Performance nomination for Dionne Edwards’ lung-bustingly lyrical exploration of a family struggling with the pressures of life and their changing desires, sparked by the titular Pretty Red Dress, which also took a Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios nomination for Georgia Goggin. Also netting Breakthrough Producer and Raindance Maverick nominations is Raging Grace, 2018 BIFA Best Short Film nominee Paris Zarcilla’s bold coming-of-rage horror drama centred on a marginalised immigrant worker searching for her freedom. 

Completing the performance nominations, Tilda Swinton receives a Best Lead Performance nod for Joanna Hogg’s The Eternal Daughter, Nabhaan Rizwan takes a Best Lead Performance spot and 2020 BIFA nominee Amir El-Masry a Best Supporting Performance nomination for Naqqash Khalid’s debut feature In Camera and Alia Shawkat is nominated in Best Supporting Performance for her role in Anthony Chen’s Drift. 

The Kitchen, Daniel Kaluuya and Kibwe Tavares’ future-set story of a dystopian London, is nominated for Best Effects and Best Production Design sponsored by ATC & Broadsword and 2019 BIFA nominee Mark Jenkin is nominated for Best Sound supported by Halo for his remote island mystery Enys Men.

The nominations for Best Feature Documentary sponsored by Intermission Film include three debut directors who also get nominations in Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary: If the Streets Were On Fire, spotlighting the BikeStormz movement changing young lives, which also takes a Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios nomination for Gannesh Rajah and a Raindance Maverick nod; Another Body, Sophie Compton and Reuben Hamlyn’s stateside search for justice for a victim of deepfaking; and Bobi Wine: The People’s President, following Uganda’s 2021 presidential election opposition leader Bobi Wine’s fight against oppression, which also receives a Best Editing nomination. Rounding out the Documentary category are Alison Millar’s Lyra, which seeks answers to the senseless Northern Ireland killing of journalist Lyra McKee and Steve McQueen’s Occupied City, an epic exploration of the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam that still haunts the Netherlands capital.

Chloe Abrahams’ unearthing of hidden family history in The Taste of Mango and Ella Glendining’s very personal search for community and self-love in an ableist world Is There Anybody Out There? both score Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary nominations, with Is There Anybody Out There? also included in the Raindance Maverick Award nominations alongside Edwards Lovelace’s Name Me Lawand and Kit Vincent’s Red Herring. Avdhesh Mohla’s editing work for High & Low – John Galliano also receives a nomination.

With streamers increasingly turning to independent filmmakers to find the next new and influential voice, it’s no surprise to see MUBI with 15 nominations overall, including How to Have Sex and All of Us Strangers, while Fox Searchlight’s Rye Lane is already streaming on Disney+ UK and Scrapper is already streaming on BFI Player. The Kitchen, meanwhile, will be released by Netflix.

The winners will be announced at the 2023 BIFAs ceremony on Sunday 3rd December. Here’s the full list of nominees:

Best British Independent Film

ALL OF US STRANGERS Andrew Haigh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey
FEMME Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping, Myles Payne, Sam Ritzenberg
HOW TO HAVE SEX Molly Manning Walker, Ivana MacKinnon, Emily Leo, Konstantinos Kontovrakis
RYE LANE Raine Allen-Miller, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo, Damian Jones
SCRAPPER Charlotte Regan, Theo Barrowclough
 

Best International Independent Film sponsored by Champagne Taittinger

ANATOMY OF A FALL Justine Triet, Arthur Harari, Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion
FALLEN LEAVES Aki Kauriskmäki
FREMONT Babak Jalali, Carolina Cavalli, Marjaneh Moghimi, Sudnya Shroff, Rachael Fung
MONSTER Hirokazu Kore-Eda, Yuji Sakamoto, Genki Kawamura, Kenji Yamada
PAST LIVES Celine Song, David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler 
 

Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema

RAINE ALLEN-MILLER Rye Lane
SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme
ANDREW HAIGH All of Us Strangers
MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex
CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper
 

Best Screenplay sponsored by Apple Original Films

NATHAN BRYON, TOM MELIA Rye Lane
SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme
ANDREW HAIGH All of Us Strangers
MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex
CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper
 

Best Lead Performance

JODIE COMER The End We Start From
MIA MCKENNA-BRUCE How to Have Sex
TIA NOMORE Earth Mama
NABHAAN RIZWAN In Camera
ANDREW SCOTT All of Us Strangers
TILDA SWINTON The Eternal Daughter
 

Best Supporting Performance

RITU ARYA Polite Society
JAMIE BELL All of Us Strangers
SAMUEL BOTTOMLEY How to Have Sex
ALEXANDRA BURKE Pretty Red Dress
AMIR EL-MASRY In Camera
CLAIRE FOY All of Us Strangers
PAUL MESCAL All of Us Strangers
ALIA SHAWKAT Drift
SHAUN THOMAS How to Have Sex
KATHERINE WATERSTON The End We Start From
 

Best Joint Lead Performance

LOLA CAMPBELL, HARRIS DICKINSON Scrapper
DAVID JONSSON, VIVIAN OPARAH Rye Lane
NATHAN STEWART-JARRETT, GEORGE MACKAY Femme
 

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by BBC Film

RAINE ALLEN-MILLER Rye Lane
SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme
SAVANAH LEAF Earth Mama
MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex
CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper
 

Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios

THEO BARROWCLOUGH Scrapper
GEORGIA GOGGIN Pretty Red Dress
YVONNE ISIMEME IBAZEBO Rye Lane [also produced by Damian Jones]
GANNESH RAJAH If the Streets Were on Fire
CHI THAI Raging Grace
 

Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix

LE’SHANTEY BONSU Girl
LOLA CAMPBELL Scrapper
PRIYA KANSARA Polite Society
MIA MCKENNA-BRUCE How to Have Sex
VIVIAN OPARAH Rye Lane
 

Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4

NATHAN BRYON, TOM MELIA Rye Lane
SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme
MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex
NIDA MANZOOR Polite Society
CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper
 

Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary

CHLOE ABRAHAMS The Taste of Mango 
SOPHIE COMPTON, REUBEN HAMLYN Another Body
ELLA GLENDINING Is There Anybody Out There?
ALICE RUSSELL If the Streets Were on Fire
CHRISTOPHER SHARP Bobi Wine: The People’s President [also directed by Moses Bwayo]
 

The Raindance Maverick Award

IF THE STREETS WERE ON FIRE Alice Russell, Gannesh Rajah
IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE? Ella Glendining, Janine Marmot
NAME ME LAWAND Edward Lovelace
RAGING GRACE Paris Zarcilla, Chi Thai
RED HERRING Kit Vincent, Ed Owles
 

Best Feature Documentary sponsored by Intermission Film

ANOTHER BODY Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn, Isabel Freeman, Elizabeth Woodward
BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp, John Battsek
IF THE STREETS WERE ON FIRE Alice Russell, Gannesh Rajah
LYRA Alison Millar, Jackie Doyle
OCCUPIED CITY Steve McQueen, Bianca Stigter, Floor Onrust, Anna Smith-Tenser
 

Best British Short Film 

CHRISTOPHER AT SEA Tom C J Brown, Laure Desmazières, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron, Amanda Miller, Hannah Stolarski, Nick Read, Emily-Jane Brown
FESTIVAL OF SLAPS Abdou Cissé, Cheri Darbon, George Telfer
LIONS Beru Tessema, Ama Ampadu
MUNA Warda Mohamed, Angela Moneke, Simon Hatton
THE TALENT Thomas May Bailey, Emma D’Arcy, Ellen Spence
 

Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight 

SHAHEEN BAIG Scrapper
KHARMEL COCHRANE Rye Lane
KAHLEEN CRAWFORD All of Us Strangers
ISABELLA ODOFFIN How to Have Sex
SALOME OGGENFUSS, GERALDINE BARÓN, ABBY HARRI Earth Mama
 

Best Cinematography sponsored by Harbor & Kodak

OLAN COLLARDY Rye Lane
SUZIE LAVELLE The End We Start From
MOLLY MANNING WALKER Scrapper
JAMIE D. RAMSAY All of Us Strangers
JAMES RHODES Femme
 

Best Costume Design

GEORGE BUXTON How to Have Sex
OLIVER CRONK Scrapper
BUKI EBIESUWA Femme
CYNTHIA LAWRENCE-JOHN Rye Lane
PC WILLIAMS The End We Start From
 

Best Editing 

JONATHAN ALBERTS All of Us Strangers
VICTORIA BOYDELL Rye Lane
PAUL CARLIN Bobi Wine: The People’s President
AVDHESH MOHLA High & Low – John Galliano
ARTTU SALMI The End We Start From
 

Best Effects

PADDY EASON Polite Society
THEODOR FLO-GROENEBOOM The End We Start From
JONATHAN GALES, RICHARD BAKER The Kitchen
 

Best Music Supervision

CIARA ELWIS Femme
CONNIE FARR All of Us Strangers
DAVID FISH Rye Lane
 

Best Make-Up & Hair Design sponsored by The Wall Group

ZOE CLARE BROWN All of Us Strangers
CLAIRE CARTER Polite Society
MARIE DEEHAN Femme
NATASHA LAWES How to Have Sex
BIANCA SIMONE SCOTT Rye Lane
 

Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group

ADAM JANOTA BZOWSKI Femme
PATRICK JONSSON Scrapper
KWES Rye Lane 
ANNA MEREDITH The End We Start From
RÉ OLUNUGA Girl
 

Best Production Design sponsored by ATC & Broadsword

LAURA ELLIS CRICKS The End We Start From
SARAH FINLAY All of Us Strangers
ELENA MUNTONI Scrapper
NATHAN PARKER The Kitchen
ANNA RHODES Rye Lane
 

Best Sound supported by Halo

BEN BAIRD, JACK WENSLEY, ADAM FLETCHER, ALEXEJ MUNGERSDORFF Scrapper
STEVE FANAGAN How to Have Sex
STEVIE HAYWOOD, JOAKIM SUNDSTRÖM, PER BOSTRÖM All of Us Strangers
MARK JENKIN Enys Men
JENS ROSENLUND-PETERSEN, AMY FELTON, JOE JACKSON, TIM CAVAGIN, LORI DOVI 
The End We Start From

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