Could you call The Queen going up against The Last King Of Scotland at this year’s British Independent Film Awards a royal rumble? We’re going to anyway as Stephen Frears’ peek into the storm surrounding Princess Diana’s death has emerged as the big winner – at least in terms of nominations. With Helen Mirren up for Best Actress and Frears himself competing in Best Director, The Queen has a total of seven nominations.
Hot on its heels with six apiece are Kevin Macdonald’s The Last King Of Scotland (for which both Forest Whitaker and James McAvoy are up for Best Actor) and Shane Meadows’ This Is England.
Further down the nomination grab bag, we find Roger Michell’s Venus (with Peter O’Toole a strong Best Actor contender) and Andrea Arnold’s Red Road. This year, the BIFA team have tinkered with the rules to allow indies financed by American studios to qualify, provided the budget wasn’t above $15 million (about eight million in Proper Money). This is surely nothing to do with attracting big names to the award-giving event, which will happen at the Hammersmith Palais in London on 29 November.
Here’s a selected list of the nominations. You can get the full list from BIFA themselves right here.
Best British Independent Film
The Last King of Scotland
The Queen
Red Road This is England
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Best Director
Kevin Macdonald – The Last King of Scotland
Stephen Frears – The Queen
Michael Caton Jones – Shooting Dogs
Shane Meadows – This is England
Ken Loach – The Wind that Shakes the Barley
Best Actor
Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland
Peter O’Toole – Venus
Cillian Murphy – The Wind that Shakes the Barley
Tony Curran – Red Road
James McAvoy – The Last King of Scotland
Best Actress
Helen Mirren - The Queen
Kate Dickie – Red Road
Frances de la Tour – The History Boys
Robin Wright Penn – Breaking & Entering
Juliette Binoche – Breaking & Entering
Best Supporting Actor/Actress
Martin Compston – Red Road
Leslie Phillips – Venus
Vanessa Redgrave – Venus
Joseph Gilgun – This is England
Stephen Graham – This is England
Most Promising Onscreen Newcomer
Jodie Whittaker - Venus
Thomas Turgoose – This is England
Samuel Barnett – The History Boys
Harry and Luke Treadaway – Brothers of the Head
Dominic Cooper – The History Boys
Rafi Gavron – Breaking & Entering
Best Screenplay
Alan Bennett – The History Boys
Peter Morgan – The Queen
Hanif Kureishi – Venus
Shane Meadows – This is England
Peter Morgan & Jeremy Brock – The Last King of Scotland
Best Foreign Independent Film
Volver
Hidden (Cache)
The Beat My Heart Skipped
Brick
Hard Candy
Best Debut Director
Menhaj Huda - Kidulthood
Paul Andrew Williams – London to Brighton
Andrea Arnold – Red Road
Tom Vaughan – Starter For Ten
Caradog W James – Little White Lies
Best British Documentary
The Road to Guantanamo
Blindsight
The Great Happiness Space
The Pervert’s Guide To Cinema
Unknown White Male
Best Technical Achievement
The Last King of Scotland – Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle
This is England – Music: Ludovico Einaudi (Original Music)
The Wind That Shakes The Barley – Cinematography: Barry Ackroyd
The Queen – Make-Up: Daniel Phillips
The Queen – Production Design: Alan MacDonald
Best Achievement In Production
London to Brighton
Kidulthood
Shooting Dogs
The Road to Guantanamo
Severance
The Variety UK Personality Of The Year
Helen Mirren