Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake topped the list of nominations for the 2016 British Independent Film Awards with seven nods including Best British Independent Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Its stars Hayley Squires and Dave Johns are each nominated twice for Best Actress and Best Actor and competing against each other for Most Promising Newcomer.
Also riding top of the list of nominees is American Honey, which has six nods including Best Actor for Shia LaBeouf and Best Director for Andrea Arnold, her fourth BIFA nomination to date. Sasha Lane was also nominated for Best Actress for her role in the film. Notes on Blindness picked up six nominations as well as Under the Shadow, both including Best British Independent Film and Best Director. Jodie Whittaker earned a Best Actress nomination for Adult Life Skills while Michael Fassbender was nominated for Best Actor for his role in Trespass Against Us, making this year his third consecutive nomination in the category. He’s been nominated six times for Best Actor. Also notable is The Girl With All the Gifts, which earned four nominations including Most Promising Newcomer for Sennia Nanua and Best Supporting Actress for Gemma Arterton.
Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight and Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By The Sea were both up for Best International Independent Film.
The BIFAs take place on December 4 at London’s Old Billingsgate.
Here’s the full list of nominees:
Best British Independent Film
AMERICAN HONEY Andrea Arnold, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy, Pouya Shahbazian, Alice Weinberg, Thomas Benski, Lucas Ochoa
COUPLE IN A HOLE Tom Geens, Zorana Piggott
I, DANIEL BLAKE Ken Loach, Paul Laverty, Rebecca O’Brien
NOTES ON BLINDNESS Peter Middleton, James Spinney, Mike Brett, Jo-Jo Ellison, Steve Jamison, Alex Usborne
UNDER THE SHADOW Babak Anvari, Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan Toh
Best Director
ANDREA ARNOLD American Honey
BABAK ANVARI Under the Shadow
BEN WHEATLEY Free Fire
KEN LOACH I, Daniel Blake
PETER MIDDLETON, JAMES SPINNEY, Notes on Blindness
Best Actress
HAYLEY SQUIRES I, Daniel Blake
JODIE WHITTAKER Adult Life Skills
KATE DICKIE Couple in a Hole
NARGES RASHIDI Under the Shadow
SASHA LANE American Honey
Best Supporting Actress
AVIN MANSHADI Under the Shadow
GEMMA ARTERTON The Girl With All the Gifts
NAOMIE HARRIS Our Kind of Traitor
SHANA SWASH My Feral Heart
TERRY PHETO A United Kingdom
Best Documentary
THE CONFESSION: LIVING THE WAR ON TERROR Ashish Ghadiali, James Rogan
DANCER Steven Cantor, Gabrielle Tana
THE HARD STOP George Amponsah, Dionne Walker
NOTES ON BLINDNESS Peter Middleton, James Spinney, Mike Brett, Jo-Jo Ellison, Steve Jamison, Alex Usborne
VERSUS: THE LIFE AND FILMS OF KEN LOACH Louise Osmond, Rebecca O’Brien
The Douglas Hickox Award (Debut Director)
ADAM SMITH Trespass Against Us
ALICE LOWE Prevenge
BABAK ANVARI Under the Shadow
PETER MIDDLETON, JAMES SPINNEY Notes on Blindness
RACHEL TUNNARD Adult Life Skills
Breakthrough Producer
CAMILLE GATIN The Girl With All the Gifts
DIONNE WALKER The Hard Stop
MICHAEL BERLINER Adult Life Skills
MIKE BRETT, JO-JO ELLISON, STEVE JAMISON Notes on Blindness
PAUL FEGAN Where You’re Meant to Be
The Discovery Award
BLACK MOUNTAIN POETS Jamie Adams, Jon Rennie
THE DARKEST UNIVERSE Tom Kingsley, Will Sharpe, Tiani Ghosh, Jo-Jo Ellison
THE GHOUL Gareth Tunley, Jack Healy Guttmann, Tom Meeten
GOZO Miranda Bowen, Leo Scott
THE GREASY STRANGLER Jim Hosking, Toby Harvard, Daniel Noah, Andrew Starke, Ant Timpson, Josh C Waller, Elijah Wood
Best International Independent Film
HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE Taika Waititi, Carthew Neal, Matt Noonan, Leanne Saunders
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA Kenneth Lonergan, Kimberly Steward, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck, Kevin J. Walsh
MOONLIGHT Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner
MUSTANG Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Alice Winocour, Charles Gillibert
TONI ERDMANN Maren Ade, Janine Jackowski, Jonas Dornbach, Michel Merkt
Best Screenplay
ANDREA ARNOLD American Honey
BABAK ANVARI Under the Shadow
BILLY O’BRIEN, CHRISTOPHER HYDE I Am Not a Serial Killer
PAUL LAVERTY I, Daniel Blake
RACHEL TUNNARD Adult Life Skills
Best Actor
DAVE JOHNS I, Daniel Blake
MAX RECORDS I Am Not a Serial Killer
MICHAEL FASSBENDER Trespass Against Us
SHIA LABEOUF American Honey
STEVE BRANDON My Feral Heart
Best Supporting Actor
ARINZÉ KENE The Pass
BRETT GOLDSTEIN Adult Life Skills
CHRISTOPHER LLOYD I Am Not a Serial Killer
JAMIE DORNAN Anthropoid
SEAN HARRIS Trespass Against Us
Outstanding Achievement in Craft
JOAKIM SUNDSTRÖM Sound – Notes on Blindness
PAUL MONAGHAN, MAT WHITECROSS Editing – Supersonic
ROBBIE RYAN Cinematography – American Honey
SEB BARKER Visual Effects – The Girl With All the Gifts
SHAHEEN BAIG Casting – Free Fire
Debut Screenwriter
ED TALFAN The Passing (Yr Ymadawiad)
HOPE DICKSON LEACH The Levelling
JOHN CAIRNS, MICHAEL McCARTNEY A Patch of Fog
RACHEL TUNNARD Adult Life Skills
SIMON FARNABY, JULIAN BARRATT Mindhorn
Most Promising Newcomer
DAVE JOHNS I, Daniel Blake
HAYLEY SQUIRES I, Daniel Blake
LETITIA WRIGHT Urban Hymn
SENNIA NANUA The Girl With All the Gifts
STEVE BRANDON My Feral Heart
Best British Short
JACKED Rene Pannevis, Ashish Ghadiali, Jennifer Eriksson
MOTHER Leo Leigh, Scott O’Donnell
OVER Jörn Threlfall, Jeremy Bannister
RATE ME Fyzal Boulifa, Taina Galis
THE WRONG END OF THE STICK Terri Matthews, Chris Cornwell, Sam Bank