Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap was the major winner at the 2024 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas), with seven wins in total including best British
Rich Peppiatt’s Kneecap was the major winner at the 2024 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas), with seven wins in total including best British independent film.
Scroll down for full list of winners
Taking place tonight (December 8), the awards returned to London’s Roundhouse in Camden, with a ceremony hosted by actor and comedian Peter Serafinowicz, who joked that the night was “homegrown lower budget films that pay its stars multi of pounds”.
Other winners included Rungano Nyoni’s On Becoming A Guinea Fowl, Sandhya Suri’s Santosh and documentary Grand Theft Hamlet, with two awards each.
Peppiatt’s debut feature about the Irish-language hip-hip trio Kneecap also took home best lead performance for Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin and JJ Ó Dochartaigh, who star in the film as themselves, and best debut screenwriter. At last week’s Bifa craft awards, the Belfast-set feature also won awards for casting, editing, original music and music supervision.
The film, Ireland’s Oscar entry for best international feature, premiered at Sundance nearly a year ago.
Peppiatt said in his final acceptance speech tonight: “I have to mention there is an irony in the best British film being Irish.” Star Naoise Ó Caireallain added: “We never expected anyone to be interested in this story of the Irish language in Belfast. We soon realised it wasn’t just about the Irish language, it was about indigenous and native cultures all around the world.”
Marianne Jean-Baptiste won best lead performance for her role in Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths. She paid tribute to the director, calling him ”my dear dear friend and mentor”.
Best supporting performance went to Franz Rogowski for Andrea Arnold’s Bird.
Nyoni picked up best director for On Becoming A Guinea Fowl which stars breakthrough performance winner Susan Chardy as a Zambian woman uncovering the secrets of her middle-class family. In 2017, Nyoni won best director and the Douglas Hickox award for her debut I Am Not A Witch.
Suri, a 2023 Screen Star of Tomorrow, won best screenplay for her Indian-set drama Santosh about a woman who inherits her husband’s job as a police officer. The film also won breakthrough producer for Good Chaos’ James Bowsher and Lionsfish Films’ Balthazar De Ganay.
Best international independent film went to Sean Baker’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner Anora. Baker said: “I’d like to personally thank Take That for allowing us to use their song… pretty sure that’s the reason we’re up here now.”
The 2024 Richard Harris Award for outstanding contribution by an actor to British film was presented to Sophie Okonedo by her friend and regular collaborator Ben Daniels.
Okonedo said in her speech: “When I started, the casting landscape is very different to how it is now… back then, the thing that fuelled me was that I really wanted to challenge the stereotypical roles I was being offered.”
Actor Nathan Stewart-Jarrett presented this year’s special jury prize to Fully Focused | The Million Youth Project, a youth-driven production company supporting newborn people from underrepresented communities.
Bifa winners 2024
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 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
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 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 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 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
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]
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 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]
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 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
Breakthrough performance
- Nykiya Adams – Bird
- Susan Chardy – On Becoming A Guinea Fowl
- Saura Lightfoot-Leon – Hoard
- Ruaridh Mollica – Sebastian
- Jason Patel – Unicorns
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 Sorensen
- Witches – Elizabeth Sankey, Jeremy Warmsley, Chiara Ventura, Manon Ardisson
Best British low 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
Bifa craft winners 2024 (previously announced)
- Casting – Carla Stronge, Kneecap
- Cinematography – Ben Fordesman, Love Lies Bleeding
- Costume design – Michael O’Connor, Firebrand
- Editing – Julian Ulrichs and Chris Gill, Kneecap
- Effects – David Simpson, Civil War
- Music supervision – Chris Welch and Jeanette Rehnstrom, Kneecap
- Make-up & hair design – Lisa Mustafa, Unicorns
- Original music – Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, Kneecap
- Production design – Jan Houllevigue, The Assessment
- Sound – Glenn Freemantle, Mary H Ellis and Howard Bargroff, Civil War
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