British Independent Film Awards
Encyclopedia
The Moët British Independent Film Awards is an annual award ceremony celebrating achievement in independently funded British film and cinema. Nominations and jury are announced at the beginning of November with the award ceremony taking place in late November or early December.
founder Elliot Grove
. Grove set out to celebrate merit and achievement in independently funded British filmmaking, to honour new talent, and to promote British films and filmmaking to a wider public audience. It forms part of the Raindance Film Festival held each year in September/October. Submissions are required before 23 September each year.
Founding Members: Phillip Alberstat, Chris Auty, Suzanne Ballantyne, André Burgess, Sally Caplan, Pippa Cross, Christopher Fowler, Lora Fox Gamble, Steven Gaydos, Elliot Grove, Norma Heyman, Emma E. Hickox, a.c.e., Fred Hogge, Robert Jones, Steve Kenis, Alberto Lopez, Ollie Madden, Hamish McAlpine, Neil McCartney, Saul Metzstein, Martin Myers, Sarah Radclyffe, Tracey Scoffield, Mark Shivas, Jim Wilson, Michiyo Yoshizaki.
In 2010 BIFA announced a partnership with the climate change organisation Global Cool
aimed at introducing green behaviours into film plots.
, Michael Sheen
and David Thewlis
will join the prestigious list of other patrons including Mike Figgis
, Tom Hollander
, Adrian Lester
, Ken Loach
, Ewan McGregor
, Samantha Morton
, Bill Nighy
, Trudie Styler
, Tilda Swinton
, Meera Syal
, Ray Winstone
and Michael Winterbottom
.
Moët et Chandon
Major Funding Partner:
UK Film Council
Major Award Sponsor:
Three Mills
Studios,
Ascent Media,
BBC Films
,
Chapter Media,
Exile Media,
M.A.C (Make-up Art Cosmetics
),
Optimum Releasing
,
Creative Partnership,
Variety magazine
,
Working Title Films
Members Club:
Soho House
Corporate Benefactors:
Film London
,
Film4
Foreign Independent Films:
Short Films:
History
The British Independent Film Awards were created in 1998 by RaindanceRaindance Film Festival
Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates from various cities including: London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin and Brussels...
founder Elliot Grove
Elliot Grove
Elliot Grove is a Canadian-born film producer who founded both the Raindance Film Festival in 1993 and the British Independent Film Awards in 1998.- Biography :...
. Grove set out to celebrate merit and achievement in independently funded British filmmaking, to honour new talent, and to promote British films and filmmaking to a wider public audience. It forms part of the Raindance Film Festival held each year in September/October. Submissions are required before 23 September each year.
Founding Members: Phillip Alberstat, Chris Auty, Suzanne Ballantyne, André Burgess, Sally Caplan, Pippa Cross, Christopher Fowler, Lora Fox Gamble, Steven Gaydos, Elliot Grove, Norma Heyman, Emma E. Hickox, a.c.e., Fred Hogge, Robert Jones, Steve Kenis, Alberto Lopez, Ollie Madden, Hamish McAlpine, Neil McCartney, Saul Metzstein, Martin Myers, Sarah Radclyffe, Tracey Scoffield, Mark Shivas, Jim Wilson, Michiyo Yoshizaki.
In 2010 BIFA announced a partnership with the climate change organisation Global Cool
Global Cool
Global Cool is a green lifestyle campaign run by the Global Cool Foundation, a registered climate change charity in the United Kingdom. Global Cool works with celebrities and the media and entertainment industries to promote green behaviours such as using public transport and taking flight-free...
aimed at introducing green behaviours into film plots.
Patrons
Three of Britain’s top internationally renowned stars recently joined the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) group of official patrons. Helen MirrenHelen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
, Michael Sheen
Michael Sheen
Michael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991...
and David Thewlis
David Thewlis
David Thewlis is an English actor of stage and screen. His most commercially successful role to date has been that of Remus Lupin, in the Harry Potter film series...
will join the prestigious list of other patrons including Mike Figgis
Mike Figgis
Michael "Mike" Figgis is an English film director, writer, and composer.-Personal life:Figgis was born in Carlisle, England and grew up in Africa. Figgis for several years had a relationship with the actress Saffron Burrows and cast her in several films...
, Tom Hollander
Tom Hollander
Thomas Anthony "Tom" Hollander is a British actor who has appeared in productions such as Enigma, Gosford Park, Cambridge Spies, Pride and Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean, In the Loop, Valkyrie and Hanna.-Early life:Tom Hollander was born in Bristol and raised in Oxford, Oxfordshire, the son...
, Adrian Lester
Adrian Lester
-Personal life:Lester was born in Birmingham, England, the son of Jamaican immigrants Monica, a medical secretary, and Reginald, a manager for a contract cleaning company. He sang as a boy treble in the choir of St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham...
, Ken Loach
Ken Loach
Kenneth "Ken" Loach is a Palme D'Or winning English film and television director.He is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his socialist beliefs, which are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness , labour rights and child abuse at the...
, Ewan McGregor
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor is a Scottish actor. He has had success in mainstream, indie, and art house films. McGregor is perhaps best known for his roles as heroin addict Mark Renton in the drama Trainspotting , young Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars prequel trilogy , and poet Christian in the...
, Samantha Morton
Samantha Morton
Samantha Jane Morton is an English actress and film director. She began her performing career with guest roles in television shows such as Soldier Soldier and Boon before making her film debut in the 1997 drama film This Is the Sea, playing the character of Hazel Stokes...
, Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy
William Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
, Trudie Styler
Trudie Styler
Trudie Styler is an English actress and producer. She is the second wife of the musician Sting.-Life and career:Styler was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. She attended North Bromsgrove High School, where one of her teachers was Clifford T. Ward...
, Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton
Katherine Mathilda "Tilda" Swinton is a British actress known for both arthouse and mainstream films. She has appeared in a number of films including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, The Beach, We Need to Talk About Kevin and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her...
, Meera Syal
Meera Syal
Meera Syal MBE is a British comedienne, writer, playwright, singer, journalist, producer and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created Goodness Gracious Me and became one of the UK's best-known Indian personalities portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, Ummi, in The Kumars at No...
, Ray Winstone
Ray Winstone
Raymond Andrew "Ray" Winstone is an English film and television actor. He is mostly known for his "tough guy" roles, beginning with that of Carlin in the 1979 film Scum and as Will Scarlet in the cult television adventure series Robin of Sherwood. He has also become well known as a voice over...
and Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom
Michael Winterbottom is a prolific English filmmaker who has directed seventeen feature films in the past fifteen years. He began his career working in British television before moving into features...
.
Award Categories
- Best British Independent FilmBIFA Award for Best British Independent FilmThe British Independent Film Award for Best British Independent Film is an annual award given to the best British independent film. The award was introduced in the 1998 ceremony, and the current award winner is The King's Speech.- 1998–1999 :...
- Best Foreign Independent FilmBIFA Award for Best Foreign Independent FilmThe British Independent Film Award for Best Foreign Independent Film is an annual award given to the best Foreign independent film. The award was introduced in the 1998 ceremony.- Winners and nominees :From 1998 to 2002 there were two separate categories:...
- Best Director of a British Independent Film
- The Douglas HickoxDouglas HickoxDouglas Hickox was an English film director. Hickox was born in London, where he was educated at Emanuel School. Hickox worked extensively as an assistant director and second unit director throughout the 50's and early 60's, making his first major picture in 1970...
Award (Debut Director) - Best Screenplay
- Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent FilmBIFA Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent FilmThe British Independent Film Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film is an annual award given to the Best Actor who starred in a British independent film...
- Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent FilmBIFA Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent FilmThe British Independent Film Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film is an annual award given to the Best Actress who starred in a British independent film...
- Best Supporting ActorBIFA Award for Best Supporting ActorThe British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor is an annual award given to the Best Supporting Actor in a British film. The award was introduced in the 2008 ceremony.- 2008–2009 :- 2010–2019 :...
- Best Supporting ActressBIFA Award for Best Supporting ActressThe British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress is an annual award given to the Best Supporting Actress in a British film. The award was introduced in the 2008 ceremony.- 2008–2009 :- 2010–2019 :...
- Most Promising Newcomer
- Best Achievement in Production
- The RaindanceRaindance Film FestivalRaindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates from various cities including: London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin and Brussels...
Award - Best Technical Achievement
- Best British Documentary
- Best British Short Film
- The Richard Harris AwardBritish Independent Film Award – The Richard Harris AwardThe Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor is a British Independent Film Award which is given to the actor or actress that the academy feels has contributed highly to British films, throughout their career...
- The Variety Award
- The Special Jury Prize
2010
Title Sponsor:Moët et Chandon
Moët et Chandon
Moët & Chandon , or Moët, is a French winery and co-owner of the luxury goods company Moët-Hennessy • Louis Vuitton. Moët et Chandon is one of the world's largest champagne producers and a prominent champagne house. The company holds a Royal Warrant to supply champagne to Elizabeth II...
Major Funding Partner:
UK Film Council
UK Film Council
The UK Film Council was set up in 2000 by the Labour Government as a non-departmental public body to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It was constituted as a private company limited by guarantee governed by a board of 15 directors and was funded through sources including the...
Major Award Sponsor:
Three Mills
Three Mills
The Three Mills are former working mills on the River Lea in the East End of London, one of London’s oldest extant industrial centres. The largest and most powerful of the four remaining tidal mills is possibly the largest tidal mill in the world...
Studios,
Ascent Media,
BBC Films
BBC Films
BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including An Education, StreetDance 3D, Fish Tank, Stage Beauty, A Cock and Bull Story, Nativity! and Match Point.It aims to make strong British films with...
,
Chapter Media,
Exile Media,
M.A.C (Make-up Art Cosmetics
Make-up Art Cosmetics
Make-up Art Cosmetics, better known as M·A·C or MAC Cosmetics, is a manufacturer of cosmetics founded in Toronto, Canada and headquartered in New York City, New York.-History:...
),
Optimum Releasing
Optimum Releasing
StudioCanal UK is a film distributor company working in the UK and Ireland. The company releases many films, including foreign language films, anime releases such as Studio Ghibli's films and independent British, Irish and American films in the UK and sometimes Ireland.Optimum was acquired by...
,
Creative Partnership,
Variety magazine
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
,
Working Title Films
Working Title Films
Working Title Films is a British film production company, based in London, UK. The company was founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. It produces feature films and several television productions, including films starring comic actor Rowan Atkinson...
Members Club:
Soho House
Soho House (club)
Soho House is a well-known private members club patronized by those in the arts and media. The original location is at Greek Street, Soho, London, England . There are now nine 'houses' worldwide, found in Babington, Notting Hill, Chiswick, Shoreditch, Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, West...
Corporate Benefactors:
Film London
Film London
Film London is the capital's film and media agency - sustaining, promoting and developing London as a major international film-making and film cultural capital. This includes all the screen industries based in London - film, television, video, commercials and new interactive media. Film London is...
,
Film4
Film4
Film4 is a free digital television channel available in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, owned and operated by Channel 4, that screens films.-Programming:...
Previous Years
2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998Entry Criteria
Main categories:- must be intended for theatrical release.
- must be produced/predominantly co-produced by a British company or is in receipt of 51% of its budget from a British source/s.
- may be funded by a major studio (so long as studio funds do not exceed £10million)
Foreign Independent Films:
- must have a UK theatrical release during the eligibility period
Short Films:
- must have won an award at a recognised film festival.
Past Awards
- British Independent Film Awards 2010British Independent Film Awards 2010The 13th British Independent Film Awards, was held on 5 December 2010 at The Brewery in West London, honouring the best British independent films of 2010.-Best British Independent Film:* The King's Speech* Four Lions* Kick-Ass...
- British Independent Film Awards 2009British Independent Film Awards 2009The 12th British Independent Film Awards, held on 6 December 2009 at The Brewery in West London, honoured the best British independent films of 2009.-Best British Independent Film:* Moon* An Education* Fish Tank* In The Loop...
- British Independent Film Awards 2008British Independent Film Awards 2008The 11th British Independent Film Awards, held on 30 November 2008 at the Old Billingsgate Market in London, honoured the best British independent films of 2008.-Best British Independent Film:* Slumdog Millionaire* Hunger* In Bruges...
- British Independent Film Awards 2007British Independent Film Awards 2007The 10th British Independent Film Awards, held in November 2007 at the Roundhouse in Camden, London, honoured the best British independent films of 2007.-Winners:*Best British Independent Film:**Control*Best Director:**Anton Corbijn - Control...
- British Independent Film Awards 2006British Independent Film Awards 2006The 9th British Independent Film Awards, held in November 2006 at the Hammersmith Palais, London, honoured the best British independent films of 2006.-Winners:*Best Actor:**Tony Curran - Red Road*Best Actress:**Katie Dickie - Red Road...
- British Independent Film Awards 2005British Independent Film Awards 2005The 8th British Independent Film Awards, given on 30 November 2005 at the Hammersmith Palais, London, honoured the best British independent films of 2005.-Winners:*Best Actor:**Ralph Fiennes - The Constant Gardener*Best Actress:...
- British Independent Film Awards 2004British Independent Film Awards 2004The 7th British Independent Film Awards, held on November 30, 2004 at the Hammersmith Palais, London, honoured the best British independent films of 2004.-Winners:*Best Actor:**Philip Davis - Vera Drake*Best Actress:**Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake...
- British Independent Film Awards 2003British Independent Film Awards 2003The 6th British Independent Film Awards, given on 4 November 2003 at the Hammersmith Palais, London, honoured the best British independent films of 2003.-Winners:*Best Actor:**Chiwetel Ejiofor - Dirty Pretty Things*Best Actress:...
- British Independent Film Awards Best British Short