This morning NZ time the British industry gathered in London to hand out the year’s Independent Film Awards.
Leading the way up the red carpet was The Lobster, with seven nominations. With six apiece were fellow Best Film nominees Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years and Australian director Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth. The other two Best Film nominees, Alex Garland’s Ex Machina and Asif Kapadia’s doco Amy, had five nominations each.
Ex Machina reached the stage early on, Andrew Whiteside’s VFX work taking the craft award ahead of a field including Top of the Lake shooter Adam Arkapaw’s work on Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth. Another Aussie-related pic, Carol, also missed out early on when Lenny Abrahamson’s Room took the Best Foreign Independent Film award, adding to a collection begun in Toronto in September.
When the event concluded Ex Machina was one of only two Best Film nominees to have won anything, and was by far the most successful. Alex Garland took Best Director and Screenplay for Ex Machina, while the title also ended the evening with the Best Film award.
NZ-shot Slow West’s director John Maclean missed out on the Debut Director award. The Lovely Bones’ Saoirse Ronan later collected the Best Actress award for her performance in Brooklyn, while Chiwetel Ejiofor (here for Craig Zobel’s Z for Zachariah) took the RichardHarris Award.
The British Independent Film Awards winners were (marked ***):
Best British Independent Film
Amy
*** Ex Machina
45 Years
The Lobster
Macbeth
Best Director
Asif Kapadia, Amy
*** Alex Garland, Ex Machina
Andrew Haigh, 45 Years
Yorgos Lanthimos, The Lobster
Justin Kurzel, Macbeth
Best Actor
Tom Courtenay, 45 Years
Colin Farrell, The Lobster
Michael Fassbender, Macbeth
*** Tom Hardy, Legend
Tom Hiddleston, High-Rise
Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, Macbeth
Carey Mulligan, Suffragette
Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
*** Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Best Supporting Actor
Luke Evans, High-Rise
*** Brendan Gleeson, Suffragette
Domhnall Gleeson, Brooklyn
Sean Harris, Macbeth
Ben Whishaw, The Lobster
Best Supporting Actress
Helena Bonham Carter, Suffragette
*** Olivia Colman, The Lobster
Anne-Marie Duff, Suffragette
Sienna Miller, High-Rise
Julie Walters, Brooklyn
Best Screenplay
Nick Hornby, Brooklyn
*** Alex Garland, Ex Machina
Andrew Haigh, 45 Years
Amy Jump, High-Rise
Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou, The Lobster
Best Foreign Independent Film
Carol
Force Majeure
Girlhood
*** Room
Son of Saul
Best Debut Director
(Douglas Hickox Award)
Chris and Ben Blaine, Nina Forever
Corin Hardy, The Hallow
Paul Katis, Kajaki: The True Story
John Maclean, Slow West
*** Stephen Fingleton, The Survivalist
Best Achievement in Craft
Chris King (editing), Amy
Fiona Weir (casting), Brooklyn
Mark Digby (production design), Ex Machina
*** Andrew Whitehurst (visual effects), Ex Machina
Adam Arkapaw (cinematography), Macbeth
Best Documentary
Amy
*** Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance
How to Change the World
Palio
A Syrian Love Story
Most Promising Newcomer
Agyness Dean, Sunset Song
Mia Goth, The Survivalist
*** Abigail Hardingham, Nina Forever
Milo Parker, Mr. Holmes
Bel Powley, A Royal Night Out
Producer of the Year
James Gay-Rees, Amy
Tristan Goligher, 45 Years
*** Paul Katis and Andrew De Lotbiniere, Kajaki: The True Story
Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Yorgos Lanthimos and Lee Magiday, The Lobster
David A. Hughes and David Moores, The Violators
Raindance Discovery Award
Aaaaaaaah!
Burn Burn Burn
*** Orion: The Man Who Would Be King
The Return
Winter
Best Short Film
Balcony
Crack
*** Edmond
Love is Blind
Manoman
Variety Award
Kate Winslet
Special Jury Prize
Chris Collins, who was production executive for the UK Film Council and BFI Film Fund until his death last year
RichardHarris Award
for outstanding contribution to BritishFilm by an actor
Chiwetel Ejiofor
