I, Daniel Blake Dominates The 2016 BIFA Nominations

Ken Loach‘s social drama I, Daniel Blake is up for seven prizes as BIFA (British Independent Film Awards) announce their 2016 nominations. The news was announced today in London by British actors Ophelia Lovibond and Douglas Booth, The Palme d’Or  winning movie  has been nominated for Best British Independent Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Hayley Squires and Dave Johns are each nominated twice for Best Actress and Best Actor, and competing against each other for Most Promising Newcomer.

I, Daniel Blake is a BBC Films Production which has had a fantastic day of news with 12 nominations overall for their films. Versus: The Life And Films Of Ken Loach  received one nomination, and there was a further nomination each for Dancer, Mindhorn, The Levelling and A United Kingdom.

Joe Oppenheimer, Acting Head of BBC Films said: “We are all extremely proud of the BIFA nominations that our films have received and the recognition this gives to the range of talented film-makers we have been able to back in the past year, reflected in nominations for Dancer, Versus: The Life And Films Of Ken Loach,Mindhorn and A United Kingdom. We’re also thrilled that with its leading tally of 7 nominations, I, Daniel Blake clearly resonates as strongly with the BIFA committee as it does with audiences.“

Andrea Arnold‘s American Honey  picked up 6 nominations including a 4th best director nomination she last won with Fish Tank in 2009. Rachel Tunnard’s charming, award-winning comedy drama Adult Life Skills,  also received 6 nominations. The movie has been creating awards buzz all year since winning the prestigious Nora Ephron Prize at the Tribeca Film Festival 2016 and securing a nomination for the Audience Award at the Edinburgh Film Festival 2016. Notes on Blindness and Under the Shadow follow also did well today both grabbing six nominations too.

Full list of nominations
Best British independent film
American Honey
Couple in a Hole
I, Daniel Blake
Notes on Blindness
Under the Shadow

Best international independent film
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
Manchester By the Sea
Moonlight
Mustang
Toni Erdmann

Best director
Andrea Arnold (American Honey)
Babak Anvari (Under the Shadow)
Ben Wheatley (Free Fire)
Ken Loach (I, Daniel Blake)
Peter Middleton and James Spinney (Notes on Blindness)

Best screenplay
Andrea Arnold (American Honey)
Babak Anvari (Under the Shadow)
Billy O’Brien and Christopher Hyde (I Am Not a Serial Killer)
Paul Laverty (I, Daniel Blake)
Rachel Tunnard (Adult Life Skills)

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 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 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 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)

Best documentary
The Confession: Living the War on Terror
Dancer
The Hard Stop
Notes on Blindness
Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach

Outstanding achievement in craft
Joakim Sundström (sound, Notes on Blindness)
Paul Monaghan and Mat Whitecross (editing, Supersonic)
Robbie Ryan (cinematography, American Honey)
Seb Barker (visual effects, The Girl With All the Gifts)
Shaheen Baig (casting, Free Fire)

Douglas Hickox award for best debut director
Adam Smith (Trespass Against Us)
Alice Lowe (Prevenge)
Babak Anvari (Under the Shadow)
Peter Middleton and James Spinney (Notes on Blindness)
Rachel Tunnard (Adult Life Skills)

Best 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 and Julian Barratt (Mindhorn)

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)

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)

Discovery award
Black Mountain Poets
The Darkest Universe
The Ghoul
Gozo
The Greasy Strangler

Best British short
Jacked
Mother
Over
Rate Me
The Wrong End of the Stick

The 2016 BIFA Awards winners will be announced on 4th December in London.