Kneecap Wins 7 At 2024 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs)

The winners of the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) were announced tonight in London, witj Irish comedy Kneecap winning  7 Awards.

Rich Peppiatt’s film follows the west Belfast hip-hop trio and their mission to save their mother tongue. The film also took Best Debut Screenwriter for Peppiatt and Best Joint Lead for trio Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin and JJ Ó Dochartaigh. With Kneecap  winning  seven BIFAs in total, including the four craft awards announced in November.

Best Director  went to Rungano Nyoni, for On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, the writer/director’s powerful exploration of buried secrets and grief within a middle-class Zambian family. This marks her third BIFA win following Best Director and The Douglas Hickox Award in 2017 for I Am Not a Witch. Breakthrough Performance went to the film’s star, newcomer Susan Chardy.

Best Lead Performance went to Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths and Best Supporting Performance went to Franz Rogowski for his role in Andrea Arnold’s fifth feature, Bird.

Best Debut Director went to Christopher Andrews for Bring Them Down, which sees two families at war with each other amid the harsh landscape of rural west Ireland.

Directing pair Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane took 2024’s Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary award as well as The Raindance Maverick Award for Grand Theft Hamlet, in which a performance of Shakespeare’s classic tale of murder and madness is enacted entirely within the confines of Grand Theft Auto.

Sean Baker’s Anora, the fiery, not-quite Cinderella tale of an exotic dancer and her oligarch Prince Charming took the BIFA for Best International Independent Film.

BIFA WINNERS 2024
The Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film
Sophie Okonedo

Best British Independent Film
KNEECAP Rich Peppiatt, Trevor Birney, Jack Tarling
LOVE LIES BLEEDING Rose Glass, Weronika Tofilska, Andrea Cornwell, Oliver Kassman
ON BECOMING A GUINEA FOWL Rungano Nyoni, Tim Cole, Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe
THE OUTRUN Nora Fingscheidt, Amy Liptrot, Sarah Brocklehurst, Dominic Norris, Jack Lowden, Saoirse Ronan
SANTOSH Sandhya Suri, Mike Goodridge, James Bowsher, Balthazar de Ganay, Alan McAlex

Best International Independent Film 
ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT Payal Kapadia, Thomas Hakim, Julien Graff
ANORA Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan
LA CHIMERA Alice Rohrwacher, Carlo Cresto-Dina, Paolo Del Brocco
NO OTHER LAND Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Fabrien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG Mohammad Rasoulof, Rozita Hendijanian, Amin Sadraei, Jean-Christophe Simon, Mani Tilgner

Best Director 
ANDREA ARNOLD Bird
NORA FINGSCHEIDT The Outrun
ROSE GLASS Love Lies Bleeding
RUNGANO NYONI On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
RICH PEPPIATT Kneecap

Best Lead Performance
RADHIKA APTE Sister Midnight
SUSAN CHARDY On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
MARIANNE JEAN-BAPTISTE Hard Truths
ELLIOT PAGE Close to You
SAOIRSE RONAN The Outrun
ALICIA VIKANDER The Assessment

Best Screenplay
NORA FINGSCHEIDT, AMY LIPTROT The Outrun
ROSE GLASS, WERONIKA TOFILSKA Love Lies Bleeding
RUNGANO NYONI On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
RICH PEPPIATT Kneecap
SANDHYA SURI Santosh

Best Supporting Performance
MICHELE AUSTIN Hard Truths
ELIZABETH CHISELA On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
BARRY KEOGHAN Bird
JACK O’CONNELL Back to Black
FRANZ ROGOWSKI Bird
HAYLEY SQUIRES Hoard

Best Joint Lead Performance
JOSEPH QUINN, SAURA LIGHTFOOT-LEON Hoard
KATY O’BRIAN, KRISTEN STEWART Love Lies Bleeding
LIAM ÓG Ó HANNAIDH, NAOISE Ó CAIREALLÁIN, JJ Ó DOCHARTAIGH Kneecap
JASON PATEL, BEN HARDY Unicorns

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)
CHRISTOPHER ANDREWS Bring Them Down
LUNA CARMOON Hoard
JAMES KRISHNA FLOYD Unicorns [also directed by Sally El Hosaini]
KARAN KANDHARI Sister Midnight
RICH PEPPIATT Kneecap

Breakthrough Producer
HOLLIE BRYAN, LUCY MEER The Ceremony
BALTHAZAR DE GANAY, JAMES BOWSHER Santosh [also produced by Mike Goodridge, Alan McAlex]
JACOB SWAN HYAM Bring Them Down [also produced by Julianne Ford, Ivana MacKinnon, Jean-Yves Roubin, Ruth Treacey, Cassandre Warnauts]
BEN TOYE Treading Water
REBECCA WOLFF Grand Theft Hamlet [also produced by Julia Ton]

Breakthrough Performance
NYKIYA ADAMS Bird
SUSAN CHARDY On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
SAURA LIGHTFOOT-LEON Hoard
RUARIDH MOLLICA Sebastian
JASON PATEL Unicorns

Best Debut Screenwriter
JAMES KRISHNA FLOYD Unicorns
KARAN KANDHARI Sister Midnight
RICH PEPPIATT Kneecap
SANDHYA SURI Santosh
MRS & MR THOMAS The Assessment [also written by John Donnelly]

Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary
PINNY GRYLLS, SAM CRANE Grand Theft Hamlet
MANON OUIMET, JACOB PERLMUTTER Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
RACHEL RAMSAY Copa 71 [also directed by James Erskine]
CLAIR TITLEY The Contestant

The Raindance Maverick Award
THE CEREMONY Jack King, Hollie Bryan, Lucy Meer
GRAND THEFT HAMLET Pinny Grylls, Sam Crane, Julia Ton, Rebecca Wolff
RESTLESS Jed Hart, Benedict Turnbull
SATU – THE YEAR OF THE RABBIT Joshua Trigg
WITCHES Elizabeth Sankey, Jeremy Warmsley, Chiara Ventura, Manon Ardisson

Best Feature Documentary
THE CONTESTANT Clair Titley, Megumi Inman, Andee Ryder, Amit Dey, Ian Bonhôte
GRAND THEFT HAMLET Pinny Grylls, Sam Crane, Julia Ton, Rebecca Wolff
SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui, Lizzie Gillett, Robert Ford
TWO STRANGERS TRYING NOT TO KILL EACH OTHER Jacob Perlmutter, Manon Ouimet, Signe Byrge Sørensen
WITCHES Elizabeth Sankey, Jeremy Warmsley, Chiara Ventura, Manon Ardisson

Best British Short Film
DELIVERY Ben Lankester, Bophanie Lun, Joe Binks
HOUSEWARMING Liam White, Guy Lindley
MEAT PUPPET Eros V, Masha Thorpe, Leah Draws
A MOVE Elahe Esmaili, Hossein Behboudi Rad
WANDER TO WONDER Nina Gantz, Stienette Bosklopper, Simon Cartwright, Daan Bakker, Maarten Swart

Best Casting
HEATHER BASTEN Hoard
ISABELLA ODOFFIN On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
LUCY PARDEE Bird
CARLA STRONGE Kneecap
MARY VERNIEU, LINDSAY GRAHAM AHANONU Love Lies Bleeding

Best Cinematography
PAWEL EDELMAN Lee
BEN FORDESMAN Love Lies Bleeding
ROB HARDY Civil War
YUNUS ROY IMER The Outrun
RYAN KERNAGHAN Kneecap

Best Costume Design
ZJENA GLAMOCANIN Kneecap
MEGHAN KASPERLIK Civil War
OLGA MILL Love Lies Bleeding
NIRAGE MIRAGE Unicorns
MICHAEL O’CONNOR Firebrand

Best Editing
STEPHEN BECHINGER The Outrun
JOE BINI Bird
MARGARIDA CARTAXO, STUART DAVIDSON Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger
JAKE ROBERTS Civil War
JULIAN ULRICHS, CHRIS GILL Kneecap

Best Effects
JAMES ALLEN Love Lies Bleeding
GLEN MCGUIGAN, INGO PUTZE Lee
DAVID SIMPSON Civil War

Best Music Supervision
IAIN COOKE, GILES MARTIN Back to Black
KLE SAVIDGE Sister Midnight
GARY WELCH, JEANETTE REHNSTROM Kneecap

Best Make-Up & Hair Design
MEGAN DAUM, FRIEDA VALENZUELA Love Lies Bleeding
PETA DUNSTALL Back to Black
KAT MORGAN The Outrun
LISA MUSTAFA Unicorns
JENNY SHIRCORE Firebrand

Best Original Music
MICHAEL ‘MIKEY J’ ASANTE Kneecap
BURIAL Bird
STUART EARL Unicorns
JOHN GÜRTLER, JAN MISERRE The Outrun
CLINT MANSELL Love Lies Bleeding

Best Production Design
BOBBIE COUSINS Hoard
KATIE HICKMAN Love Lies Bleeding
JAN HOULLEVIGUE The Assessment
CATY MAXEY Civil War
NICOLA MORONEY Kneecap

Best Sound
LOUISE BURTON, BRENDAN REHILL, AZA HAND, SIMON KERR Kneecap
PAUL DAVIES, ANDREW STIRK, LINDA FORSÉN, ROSE BLADH, TIM BURNS Love Lies Bleeding
GLEN FREEMANTLE Civil War
DOMINIK LEUBE, OSCAR STIEBITZ, JONATHAN SCHORR, GREGOR BONSE The Outrun
MIKE PRESTWOOD SMITH, CSABA MAJOR, JIMMY BOYLE Lee