The Personal History of David Copperfield leads the list of nominations for the 2019 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), announced this morning by British actors Naomi Ackie and Joe Cole at the Regent Street Cinema. Armando Iannucci’s fresh take on Dickens’ novel about the ups and downs in the life of its eponymous character is recognised for Best British Independent Film and Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Films, amongst nine other awards. Dev Patel is nominated for Best Actor, with co-stars Tilda Swinton and Hugh Laurie competing in the respective Supporting categories. The film also features heavily in the technical categories with nominations for Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society of America & Spotlight, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Editing sponsored by Intermission Film, Best Make Up & Hair Design sponsored by MAC Cosmetics and Best Production Design sponsored by Studio Juice
Completing the five Best British Independent Film nominations alongside The Personal History of David Copperfield are Bait (4 nominations), For Sama (5 nominations), The Souvenir (8 nominations) and Wild Rose (10 nominations). There are 38 British feature films nominated across the awards, which have been narrowed down from a field of over 80 entries this year by 250 of BIFA’s voters.
Jessie Buckley returns to BIFA this year in the Best Actress category for Wild Rose, having taken home the trophy for Most Promising Newcomer in 2018 for her role in Beast. The film receives broad recognition alongside its Best British Independent Film nod, with nominations including Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Films, Best Supporting Actress, Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4, Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society of America & Spotlight, Best Costume Design, Best Make Up & Hair Design sponsored by MAC Cosmetics, Best Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group and Best Sound supported by Halo Post.
Also competing in the Best Actress category is Sally Hawkins, who has previously been nominated at BIFA four times and is nominated this year for Eternal Beauty. Sally Hawkins and Jessie Buckley are nominated alongside first-time BIFA nominees Holliday Grainger (Animals), Renee Zellweger (Judy) and Vicky Knight (Dirty God), who also features in this year’s Most Promising Newcomer Category.
In the Best Actor category, up against Dev Patel for The Personal History of David Copperfield, the field of nominees includes Tom Burke (The Souvenir), Kris Hitchen (Sorry We Missed You), Sam Adewunmi (The Last Tree), also nominated in the Most Promising Newcomer Category, and 2017 Best Actor winner Josh O’Connor (Only You).
Tilda Swinton (The Personal History of David Copperfield), whose daughter Honor Swinton Byrne (The Souvenir) features in this year’s Most Promising Newcomer nominations, is joined by Julie Walters (Wild Rose), Jessica Barden (Scarborough), Elizabeth Debicki (Vita & Virginia) and Ruthxjiah Bellenea (The Last Tree) in being nominated for the Best Supporting Actress award. Swinton and Walters have both previously received The Richard Harris award at BIFA for their contributions to the British film industry.
Chiwetel Ejiofor is nominated for both The Douglas Hickox Award for Debut Director sponsored by Kodak & Pinewood and Best Supporting Actor for The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Also nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category are Peter Mullan (The Vanishing), Bluey Robinson (Dirty God), Edlison Manuel Olbera Núñez (Yuli – The Carlos Acosta Story) and Hugh Laurie (The Personal History of David Copperfield).
The 2019 BIFA nominations feature a strong show from documentaries. Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts are nominated for Best Director sponsored by Broadsword Event House for For Sama, as is Asif Kapadia for Diego Maradona. Both titles picked up five nominations overall; Kapadia continues his long association with BIFA with his fifth nomination, following past recognition for The Warrior and Amy. For Sama marks the first nomination for Al-Kateab and Watts.
The Richard Harris Award, introduced in 2002 in honour of Richard Harris, recognises outstanding contribution to British Film by an actor. Previous winners have been Daniel Day Lewis, Julie Walters, John Hurt, Emma Thompson and Judi Dench in 2018. This year’s recipient will be announced later this month.
Winners will be announced at the British Independent Film Award Ceremony on Sunday 1 December at Old Billingsgate. The ceremony will be hosted by award-winning stand-up, writer and actress Aisling Bea.
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