BIFA Nominations focus on a small handful of films

We claim no expertise on the British Independent Film Awards but this year's slate seems especially teeny-tiny. Not in the size of the films, mind you  -- some are quite supersized... at least with their length -- but in the small handful that received nominations. Most of the titles were nominated in five or six categories including the UK's Oscar submission Under the Shadow, though Ken Loach's Palme D'Or winner I Daniel Blake just barely leads with seven citations...

The British Iranian Oscar submission "Under the Shadow" nabbed six nominations!

Best British Indie

• American Honey (reviewed)
• Couple in a Hole
• I, Daniel Blake (reviewed)
• Notes on Blindness
• Under the Shadow (reviewed | the UK's foreign film submission to Oscars)

Andrea Arnold with her "American Honey" cast at Cannes

Best Director

• Andrea Arnold, American Honey
• Ben Wheatley, Free Fire
• Ken Loach, I Daniel Blake
• James Spinney & Pete Middleton, Notes on Blindness
• Babak Anvari, Under the Shadow

Best Screenplay

• Adult Life Skills
• American Honey
• I Am Not a Serial Killer
• I, Daniel Blake
• Under the Shadow

Kate Dickie, so amazing in "The Witch" this year is nominated as one half of a homeless couple in "Couple in a Hole"

Best Actress

• Jodie Whitaker, Adult Life Skills
• Sasha Lane, American Honey
• Kate Dickie, Couple in a Hole
• Hayley Squires, I Daniel Blake
• Narges Rashidi, Under the Shadow

Remember the little boy from "Where the Wild Things Are" - he's now 16 and starring in "I Am Not a Serial Killer"

Best Actor

• Shia Labeouf, American Honey
• Max Records, I Am Not a Serial Killer
• Dave Johns, I Daniel Blake
• Steve Brandon, My Feral Heart
• Michael Fassbender, Trespass Against Us

Gemma Arterton got nominated for a zombie picture

Best Supporting Actress

• Gemma Arterton, The Girl with All The Gifts
• Shana Swash, My Feral Heart
• Naomie Harris, Our Kind of Traitor
• Avin Manshadi, Under the Shadow
• Terry Pheto, A United Kingdom

Arinzé Kene who stars with Russell Tovey in the LGBT drama "The Pass" was the only nominee from that film -- an unusual circumstance at this year's BIFAs where most films that are nominated at all have a handful of other nods

Best Supporting Actor

• Brett Goldstein, Adult Life Skills
• Jamie Dornan, Anthropoid
• Christopher Lloyd, I Am Not a Serial Killer
• Arinzé Kene, The Pass
• Sean Harris, Trespass Against Us

Steve Brandon, an actor with Down Syndrome, stars in "My Feral Heart"

Most Promising Newcomer

• Sennia Nanua, The Girl With all the Gifts
• Hayley Squires, I Daniel Blake
• Dave Johns, I Daniel Blake
• Steve Brandon, My Feral Heart
• Letitia Wright, Urban Hymn

Debut Director

• Rachel Tunnard, Adult Life Skills
• Pete Middleton & James Spinney, Notes on Blindness
• Alice Lowe, Prevenge
• Adam Smith, Trespass Against Us
• Babak Anvari, Under the Shadow

the all star cast of Free Fire

Outstanding Achievement in Craft

• Robbie Ryan (Cinematography), American Honey
• Shaheen Baig (Casting), Free Fire
• Seb Baker (Visual Effects), The Girl With all the Gifts
• Joakim Sundström (Sound), Notes on Blindness
• Paul Monaghan & Mat Whitecross (Editing), Oasis: Supersonic

Best Documentary
(only "Dancer" and "Notes on Blindness" are on Oscar's Long List) 

• The Confession: Living the War on Terror
• Dancer
• The Hard Stop
• Notes on Blindess
• Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach

Best International Indie

• Hunt for the Wilderpeople
• Manchester by the Sea
• Moonlight
• Mustang
• Toni Erdmann

Best British Short

• Jacked
• Mother
• Over
• Rate Me
• The Wrong End of the Stick

The Discovery Award

• Black Mountain Poets
• The Darkest Universe
• The Ghoul
• Gozo
• The Greasy Strangler

Breakthrough Producer

• Michael Berliner, Adult Life Skills
• Camile Gatin, The Girl with all the Gifts
• Dionne Walker, The Hard Stop
• Mike Brett & Jo Jo Ellison, & Steve Jamison, Notes on Blindness
• Paul Fegan, Where You're Meant to Be

Debut Screenwriter

• Rachel Tunnard, Adult Life Skills
• Hope Dickson Leach, The Levelling
• Simon Farnaby & Julian Barratt, Mindham
• Ed Talfan, The Pasing (Yr Ymadaawiadj)
• John Cairns & Michael McCartney, A Patch of Fog

Comments

[Chris Feil]

I'm so happy to see AMERICAN HONEY have a strong showing, but it's probably the end of the line for the film as far as awards are concerned. That movie really is something special.

And I love seeing Narges Rashidi show up!

[Mareko]

Wow, A United Kingdom really isn't landing at all. Poor Amma Asante.

[Roger]

Yay! I loved American Honey. And I LOVED Shia LaBeouf's performance. Happy he was mentioned. :)

[Roger]

Oh! And hi, Mustang! You were so painfully underappreciated last year. Love you.

[par]

and the winner is....me - for seeing that pic of arinzé kene

[Glenn Dunks]

Plus, a documentary *about* Ken Loach was nominated.