BIFA Nominations: Is "Belfast" a David or a Goliath?
by Nathaniel R
In extremely good news for presumed Oscar frontrunner Belfast, they're still running as a "David" rather than a "Goliath" in the Oscar race. That's by way of a leading the British Independent Film Award nominations without truly hogging the spotlight since Kenneth Branagh's charming memoir film missed in the big categories like Film and Director. It still leads the nominations by way of across the board love in the craft categories. It's funny because we initially thought it might have the opposite problem at the Oscar. Yes, it's a period drama but it's not particularly flashy about its craft elements (beyond the black & white cinematography and the Van Morrison songscape). Tying it for most nominations, 9, is a continuous shot movie called Boiling Point by Philip Barantini.
Five other films also scored six or more nominations suggesting the juries had a small pool to choose from or only loved seven films. The Souvenir Part II, Censor, Ali & Ava, The Nest, and After Love were all obviously well regarded, too. A complete list of nominations and more after the jump...