‘’71,’ ‘Pride,’ ‘Mr. Turner’ Lead Race for British Independent Film Awards
The
Belfast-set thriller “’71”’s tally of nine nominations includes Best British
Independent Film, Best Director for Demange, Best Actor for Jack O’Connell and
Best Supporting Actor for Sean Harris. Timothy Spall also received a Best Actor
nod for his role as J.M.W. Turner in Mike Leigh’s biopic. He’s also beaming on behalf of his son, Rafe Spall, nominated for “X+Y.” Timothy Spall and O’Connell will
go up against Asa Butterfield for
“X+Y”, Benedict Cumberbatch for “The Imitation Game” and Brendan Gleeson
for “Calvary.”
The Best
Actress category is made up of Alicia
Vikander for “Testament Of Youth,” Cheng Pei Pei for “Lilting,” Gugu Mbatha-Raw for “Belle,” Keira Knightley for “The
Imitation Game,” and, in her acting debut, Sameena Jabeen Ahmed for “Catch Me Daddy.”
Andrew Scott and Ben Schnetzer were both nominated in the Best
Supporting Actor category for “Pride,” alongside Michael Fassbender (“Frank”), Rafe Spall (“X & Y”) and Harris (“’71”). Nominated for Best
Supporting Actress are Dorothy Atkinson for “Mr. Turner,” Imelda Staunton for “Pride,” Maggie Gyllenhaal for “Frank,” Sally Hawkins for “X+Y” and Sienna Guillory for “The
Goob.”
In the Best
Director category, Demange is joined by Leigh, John Michael McDonagh for “Calvary,” Lenny Abrahamson for “Frank” and Matthew Warchus for “Pride.”
(Scroll down for the complete list of
nominations.)
Films most likely to see a boost in the British and American awards races are “The Imitation Game” and “Mr. Turner,” which will open in the U.S. this month. “Frank,” “Pride” and “Calvary” were well-reviewed stateside but didn’t gain much traction at the specialty box office. Foreign indie “Boyhood” leads the Oscar race.
This year’s BIFA winners will be selected by a professional jury, also unveiled today. The jury’s chair is “The King’s
Speech” director Tom Hooper. He will be joined by writer-directors Jon S. Baird and Sean
Ellis; directors Thea Sharrock and Tinge Krishnan; actors Luke Treadaway,
Stanley Tucci and Zawe Ashton; producers Mary Burke and Tracy O’Riordan; film
critic Jonathan Romney; and programmer Shira Macleod.
This is the final year at the helm for BIFA joint directors Johanna von Fischer and
Tessa Collinson, who have substantially boosted the awards’ profile during
their nine-year tenure. They said in a joint statement: “The shortlist
demonstrates how the standard of creativity in British independent filmmaking
continues to flourish year on year. We are looking forward to seeing as
many of the nominees as possible at the Awards on 7 December to
celebrate their incredible achievements. It will be a very personal celebration
for us also, as the last of our Award Ceremonies as Joint Directors of BIFA.”
