The British Independent Film Award Nominations Are In!

The winners of the British Independent Film Awards will be announced in a ceremony to be held on December 6 in the Old Billingsgate in London.

The nominations were announced today with The Lobster, Macbeth and Suffragette all leading the charge. I've put who I'd like to win so far in bold, but there's quite a few films that I have yet to see on this list including 45 Years, Brooklyn and The Danish Girl so things could change before the awards. Please click any of the titles of the films I have seen for my full reviews.

UPDATE: Winners are now written in large!

Here is the complete list:

Best Actor:

• Colin Farrell for The Lobster
• Michael Fassbender for Macbeth
• Tom Courtenay for 45 Years
• Tom Hardy for Legend
• Tom Hiddleston for High-Rise 

This one is really tough but Tom Hardy deserves it for tackling dual roles and for sheer entertainment value.

 Best Supporting Actor:

• Ben Whishaw for The Lobster
• Brendan Gleeson for Suffragette
• Domhnall Gleeson for Brooklyn
• Luke Evans for High-Rise
• Sean Harris for Macbeth

 I suspect I may be eating my words on this one, once I've seen Brooklyn. 

 Best Actress:

• Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl
• Carey Mulligan for Suffragette
• Charlotte Rampling for 45 Years
• Marion Cotillard for Macbeth
• Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn

So far I think Mulligan deserves this, but there are three nominees on here whose performances I still need to see.

Best Supporting Actress:

• Anne Marie Duff for Suffragette
• Helena Bonham Carter for Suffragette
• Julie Walters for Brooklyn
• Olivia Colman for The Lobster
• Sienna Miller for High-Rise

Of the four performances I have seen here, Anne Marie Duff is the clear winner. Really glad to see her nominated.

 Best Director:

• 45 Years Andrew Haigh
• Amy Asif Kapadia
• Ex Machina Alex Garland
• The Lobster Yorgos Lanthimos
• Macbeth Justin Kurzel

This is the toughest category to call. Of the four I have seen, they are all brilliant and well-deserving. I don't understand why Alex Garland isn't in the debut director category as that would make this decision easier. 

 Best Documentary:

• Amy
• Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance
• How to Change the World
• Palio
• A Syrian Love Story

 I've only seen Amy and Palio, but it's hard to imagine a better documentary than Amy this year.

 Best Debut Director:

• The Hallow Corin Hardy
• Kajaki: The True Story Paul Katis
• Nina Forever Chris Blaine, Ben Blaine
• Slow West John Maclean
• The Survivalist Stephen Fingleton

 I've only seen Slow West and The Survivalist, so I'd go with Stephen Fingleton for this one. 

  Best Screenplay:

• 45 Years Andrew Haigh
• Brooklyn Nick Hornby
• Ex Machina Alex Garland
• High-Rise Amy Jump
• The Lobster Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou

 I loved Ex Machina and I haven't seen Brooklyn yet. The first half of The Lobster would also be a very worthy winner, but perhaps not the second half. Not sure you can give half a film an award though.

 Best British Independent Film:

• 45 Years Andrew Haigh
• Brooklyn Nick Hornby
• Ex Machina  Alex Garland
• High-Rise Amy Jump
• The Lobster Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou 

Now I think I'm becoming a bit too predictable, but until I see Brooklyn, there is no competition.

 Most Promising Newcomer:

• Mr Holmes
• Nina Forever
• A Royal Night Out
• Sunset Song
• The Survivalist 

 I've only seen The Survivalist and A Royal Night Out, so again, I stand with Fingleton!

Producer of the Year:

• 45 Years
• Amy
• Kajaki: The True Story
• The Lobster
• The Violators

I've only seen Amy and The Lobster, but I suspect Amy was probably the trickier film to get made and a bigger achievement.

 Outstanding Achievement in Craft:

• Editing - Chris King for Amy
• Casting - Fiona Weir for Brooklyn
• Production Design - Mark Digby for Ex Machina 
• VFX - Andrew Whitehurst for Ex Machina 
• Cinematography - Adam Arkapaw for Macbeth 

Another incredibly tough category. Macbeth's cinematography, Amy's editing and both the VFX and production design for Ex Machina are all top-notch. Very hard to call.

The Discovery Award:

• Aaaaaaaah!
• Burn Burn Burn
• Orion: The Man Who Would Be King
• The Return
• Winter

 This is my category of shame. Not seen a single one of these.

 Best British Short:

• Balcony
• Crack
• Edmond
• Love Is Blind
• MANoMAN

 Another category of shame. 

 Best International Independent Film:

• Carol
• Force Majeure
• Girlhood
• Room
• Son of Saul

Really hope Son of Saul gets this but I doubt it has a chance against Carol.

What do you think of the nominees? 

Suffragette Review [London Film Festival 2015]

Less than 100 years after all adult women in the UK were finally granted the vote, a film about the struggle to gain that basic democratic right emerges. With a dream team of female talent in front of and behind the camera, Sarah Gavron's Suffragette is a gripping start, but it becomes clear that there is far more of this true story of tremendous sacrifice left to be told.

Suffragette makes the interesting decision to follow fictional character Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan) from washer woman and poverty-stricken working mother to militant suffragette engaged in escalating actions against the government. To the detriment of her own family life, she joins Edith Ellyn’s (Helena Bonham Carter) group of East London women who are spurred on by the currently in-hiding Emmeline Pankhurst (Meryl Streep). As Inspector Steed (Brendon Gleeson) keeps a close eye on the women, their civil disobedience becomes more volatile and threatens to land them all in prison.

To a young audience raised in a world increasingly full of strong women who may never have even questioned their right to vote, the suffragette's struggle looks at once completely ludicrous, and at the same time teeth-grindingly infuriating. How dare men decide that women didn't deserve the vote? It’s an unimaginable situation that seems preposterous, but is still sadly relevant. The closing crawl of the film indicates the year that women got the vote in other countries of the world, and unbelievably the UK was far from the most recent.

Suffragette sits neatly alongside 12 Years a Slave as a document of the Western world's recent history where depressing barbarity was carried out in the name of old white men who were desperate to never let any power slip from their hands. The working class washer women in Suffragette are little more than slaves, being paid far less and working longer hours than their male counterparts. Those that speak out against the unfairness of the system are beaten, threatened, humiliated, ridiculed and made to feel ashamed.

And this is where the true tragedy of Suffragette lies. Because while it covers the famous incident involving Emily Davison's brave sacrifice involving the King's horse, it's really the story of ordinary women engaged in everyday action. Even Streep's Pankhurst only appears for a single scene, though her inspiration and influence is felt throughout. Maud sacrifices so much for the cause, including her beloved son and her job, and it is this tension between doing what she wants (to see her son) and what she must do (make the world a better place for future generations of women) that is so heart-wrenching.

Suffragette feels just as relevant today as it would have been in 1912. Women are abused, belittled and laughed at by men. But they also face the impossibly difficult choice of often wanting to manage a family with a desire to do something potentially more fulfilling outside of the home. It's a choice which Suffragette pointedly shows a single father tragically failing to consider. It also deals with the notion of what is basically terrorist action, as the women have become fed up with not being listened to, and decide on a policy of non-violent but destructive disobedience. In its mentions of police surveillance and brutality, and the media's tendency to ridicule those who threaten the status quo, Suffragette constantly reminds of none-more-contemporary issues.

For a period drama, Suffragette feels righteous and urgent in its fury. The performances are uniformly excellent, particularly Mulligan and Anne-Marie Duff, while Gavron's direction is best when highlighting the horrors of hard labour in the laundry and more so, the barbarity of the women's treatment during prison stints. It’s a shame not to learn more about Emily Davison as she plays such a fundamental role in the climax, but Suffragette's focus on the fictional Maud makes for an incredibly emotive journey.

Suffragette is a vital film, but feels like a strong start, rather than the definitive suffragette movie. More films on this movement would be most welcome, and for those dumb enough to think feminism is a dirty word; this is a timely reminder of its fundamental potential.

Watch the trailer:

More recent reviews from I Love That Film

 

More from the London Film Festival 2015