by Nathaniel R
"Aftersun" has been a hit with 'indie' awards groups like BIFA and Gotham.
The title here is a bit of a goof. You probably didn't miss the BIFA award nominations on Friday but we did. Apologizes for the delay in reporting them. The BIFAs use juries to come up with their nominations and if those juries like something they go ALL in.... 16 nominations for Aftersun (now playing in select theaters) sounds like a gargantuan amount of nominations and at first glance it lools like it was nominated for every category for which it was eligible. But therunner up Blue Jean, scored 13 nominations so, again, they go all in if they like something. What that means is that there isn't much variation from category to category. For instance Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay are all interchangeable. After the jump some notes on the nominations...
Best British Independent Film
Rosy McEwen in "Blue Jean"
- AFTERSUN -Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson
- BLUE JEAN -Georgia Oakley, Hélène Sifre
- GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE -Sophie Hyde, Katy Brand, Debbie Gray, Adrian Politowski
- LIVING -Oliver Hermanus, Kazuo Ishiguro, Stephen Woolley, Elizabeth Karlsen
- THE WONDER -Sebastián Lelio, Emma Donoghue, Alice Birch, Juliette Howell, Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross, Ed Guiney
Blue Jean, the lowest profile of these and the only one we haven't written about here at TFE, will be released by Magnolia in the US at some point. The film is about a closeted teacher and a new student that threatens to out her.
The father/daughter memoir Aftersun, which also led the Gotham Award nominations, has greatly impressed juries thus far. Will more mainstream awards organizations sample it now?
Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema
Nice mix of well established directors (Hermanus & Lelio), feature debut discoveries (Oakley & Wells), and a director just inbetween those two poles (Hyde).
Best Screenplay
Same nominees for a third category in a row but then we get some new titles. Unfortunately the acting categories do our least favourite thing in that they're all different sizes -- argh!
Best Lead Performance
Cosmo Jarvis in "It Is In Us All"
It Is In Us All is an Irish drama about a man who is forced to confront his self-destructiveness after a car accident. We love Cosmo Jarvis so this is officially on the radar now. Wolfe Releasing has the distribution rights in the US which usually means there's a queer element.
Nezouh is about a Syrian family deciding to say or leave Damascus as the bombs fall -- Hala Zein plays the daughter in that family.
Best Supporting Performance
Fatma Mohamed in "Flux Gourmet"
- ZOEY DEUTCH The Outfit
- AISLING FRANCIOSI God's Creatures
- LUCY HALLIDAY Blue Jean
- KERRIE HAYES Blue Jean
- ZAINAB JODA Our River… Our Sky
- FATMA MOHAMED Flux Gourmet
- PAUL MESCAL God's Creatures
- FIONN WHITEHEAD Emily
- AIMEE LOU WOOD Living
Some of these titles haven't made it to the US yet (Emily, for instance, is due next year), but others came and went swiftly earlier in the year like The Outfit and Flux Gourmet
Best Joint Lead Performance
McCormack and Thompson in "Good Luck To You Leo Grande"
Interesting idea for a category and bless them for not ALSO naming these same people in Lead Actor. Spread the wealth!
Best Ensemble Performance
- BLUE JEAN -Ensemble including Rosy McEwen, Kerrie Hayes, Lucy Halliday, Lydia Page, Stacy Abalogun, Farrah Cave, Amy Booth-Steel
- EMILY -Ensemble including Amelia Gething, Emma Mackey, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Fionn Whitehead, Alexandra Dowling, Gemma Jones, Adrian Dunbar
- FLUX GOURMET -Ensemble including Makis Papadimitriou, Gwendoline Christie, Asa Butterfield, Fatma Mohamed, Ariane Labed, Richard Bremmer
- OUR RIVER… OUR SKY -Ensemble including Zainab Joda, Darina Al Joundi, Amed Hashimi, Mahmoud Abo Al Abbas, Basim Hajar, Labwa Arab, Meriam Abbas, Siham Mustafa
- THE WONDER -Ensemble including Kíla Lord Cassidy, Florence Pugh, Tom Burke, Toby Jones, Niamh Algar, Elaine Cassidy, Ciarán Hinds, Brían F. O’Byrne, Josie Walker
The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) sponsored by BBC Film
"Medusa Deluxe"
- ANDREW CUMMING The Origin
- THOMAS HARDIMAN Medusa Deluxe
- FRANCES O’CONNOR Emily
- GEORGIA OAKLEY Blue Jean
- CHARLOTTE WELLS Aftersun
The Origin is a horror film set during the Stone Age and Medusa Deluxe is a murder mystery set during a hairdressing competition.
Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios
- ALEKSANDRA BILIĆ, JENNIFER CORCORAN - Nascondino [Hide & Seek]
- PAUL KENNEDY - Nightride [also produced by Jon Silk]
- RUPERT MAJENDIE- Brian and Charles
- NADIRA MURRAY- Winners [also produced by Paul Welsh]
- HÉLÈNE SIFRE- Blue Jean
Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix
- FRANKIE CORIO -Aftersun
- LEO LONG -I Used to Be Famous
- KÍLA LORD CASSIDY -The Wonder
- ROSY McEWEN -Blue Jean
- SAFIA OAKLEY-GREEN -The Origin
Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4
- SHANE CROWLEY -God's Creatures
- DAVID EARL, CHRIS HAYWARD -Brian and Charles
- RUTH GREENBERG -The Origin
- GEORGIA OAKLEY Blue Jean
- CHARLOTTE WELLS Aftersun
Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary
- KATHRYN FERGUSON Nothing Compares
- VICTORIA FIORE -Nascondino [Hide & Seek]
- LEAH GORDON, EDDIE HUTTON MILLS -Kanaval
- JONO McLEOD -My Old School
- BECKY HUTNER -Fashion Reimagined
The Raindance Discovery Award
- ELECTRIC MALADY -Marie Lidén, Aimara Reques
- FADIA’S TREE -Sarah Beddington, Susan Simnett
- OFF THE RAILS -Peter Day, Grant Keir, Rob Alexander
- REBELLION -Elena Sánchez Bellot, Maia Kenworthy, Kat Mansoor
- WINNERS -Hassan Nazer, Nadira Murray, Paul Welsh
Best Feature Documentary sponsored by Intermission
- MY CHILDHOOD, MY COUNTRY – 20 YEARS IN AFGHANISTAN -Phil Grabsky, Shoaib Sharifi, Amanda Wilkie
- MY OLD SCHOOL -Jono McLeod, John Archer, Olivia Lichtenstein
- NASCONDINO [HIDE & SEEK] -Victoria Fiore, Jennifer Corcoran, Aleksandra Bilić
- NOTHING COMPARES -Kathryn Ferguson, Eleanor Emptage, Michael Mallie
- YOUNG PLATO -Neasa Ní Chianáin, Declan McGrath, David Rane
Best British Short Film supported by BFI Network
- A FOX IN THE NIGHT -Keeran Anwar Blessie, Benjamin Jacob Smith
- HONESTY -Roxy Rezvany, Emily Renée, Elly Camisa
- SANDSTORM -Seemab Gul, Abid Aziz Merchant
- SCALE -Joseph Pierce, Hélène Mitjavile
- TOO ROUGH -Sean Lìonadh, Ross McKenzie, Alfredo Covelli
Best International Independent Film sponsored by Champagne Taittinger
- ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED -Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov,
- CLOSE -Lukas Dhont, Angelo Tijssens, Michiel Dhont, Dirk Impens
- DECISION TO LEAVE -Park Chan-Wook, Chung Seo-Kyung
- EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE -Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Mike Larocca
- THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD -Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Thomas Robsahm
Belgium's Close, which also led the EFA nominations, is going into the first round of Oscar's International Feature Film voting looking pretty strong.
Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight
Best Cinematography sponsored by Dirty Looks & Kodak
"Men"
- ALFREDO DE JUAN -Nascondino [Hide & Seek]
- ROB HARDY -Men
- JOEL HONEYWELL -Kanaval
- GREGORY OKE Aftersun
- ARI WEGNER The Wonder
Despite mixed responses from moviegoers, Men scored well in the craft categories as well as that key "joint acting" nominations.
Best Costume Design
"The Wonder"
Best Editing
- JOANNA CRICKMAY -Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts
- IZABELLA CURRY -Blue Jean
- MÁTYÁS FEKETE -Flux Gourmet
- MICK MAHON -Nothing Compares
- BLAIR McCLENDON -Aftersun
Best Original Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing
Best Make-Up & Hair Design
- OYA AYGÖR, MURAT ÇAĞIN -Aftersun
- MORNA FERGUSON, LORRI ANN KING -The Wonder
- SIOBHAN HARPER-RYAN -Flux Gourmet
- NIAMH MORRISON -The Origin
- EUGENE SOULEIMAN, SCARLETT O’CONNELL -Medusa Deluxe
Best Effects
- CHRIS MARSHALL -The Feast
- DAVID SIMPSON -Men
- AHMED YOUSRY -Nezouh
Best Music Supervision
- LUCY BRIGHT -Aftersun
- PHIL CANNING -The Phantom of the Open
- RUPERT HOLLIER -Living
Best Sound supported by Halo
- TIM HARRISON, RAOUL BRAND, CASSANDRA RUTLEDGE -Flux Gourmet
- GLENN FREEMANTLE, BEN BARKER, GILLIAN DODDERS, HOWARD BARGOFF, MITCH LOW- Men
- JOVAN AJDER -Aftersun
- HUGH FOX, BEN BAIRD -The Wonder
- DOM CORBISIERO, DAI SHELL -The Feast
Best Production Design
- FLETCHER JARVIS -Flux Gourmet
- GRANT MONTGOMERY -The Wonder
- HELEN SCOTT -Living
- BILLUR TURAN -Aftersun
- GARY WILLIAMSON -Medusa Deluxe