THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD Leads 2019 BIFA Nominations - See Full List!

By: Kaitlin Milligan Oct. 30, 2019

The Personal History of David Copperfield leads the list of nominations for the 2019 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), announced this morning by British actors Naomi Ackie and Joe Cole at the Regent Street Cinema. Armando Iannucci's fresh take on Dickens' novel about the ups and downs in the life of its eponymous character is recognised for Best British Independent Film and Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Films, amongst nine other awards. Dev Patel is nominated for Best Actor, with co-stars Tilda Swinton and Hugh Laurie competing in the respective Supporting categories. The film also features heavily in the technical categories with nominations for Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society of America & Spotlight, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Editing sponsored by Intermission Film, Best Make Up & Hair Design sponsored by MAC Cosmetics and Best Production Design sponsored by Studio Juice.

Completing the five Best British Independent Film nominations alongside The Personal History of David Copperfield are Bait (4 nominations), For Sama (5 nominations), The Souvenir (8 nominations) and Wild Rose (10 nominations). There are 38 British feature films nominated across the awards, which have been narrowed down from a field of over 80 entries this year by 250 of BIFA's voters.

Jessie Buckley returns to BIFA this year in the Best Actress category for Wild Rose, having taken home the trophy for Most Promising Newcomer in 2018 for her role in Beast. The film receives broad recognition alongside its Best British Independent Film nod, with nominations including Best Screenplay sponsored by BBC Films, Best Supporting Actress, Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4, Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society of America & Spotlight, Best Costume Design, Best Make Up & Hair Design sponsored by MAC Cosmetics, Best Music sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group and Best Sound supported by Halo Post.

Also competing in the Best Actress category is Sally Hawkins, who has previously been nominated at BIFA four times and is nominated this year for Eternal Beauty. Sally Hawkins and Jessie Buckley are nominated alongside first-time BIFA nominees Holliday Grainger (Animals), Renee Zellweger (Judy) and Vicky Knight (Dirty God), who also features in this year's Most Promising Newcomer Category.

In the Best Actor category, up against Dev Patel for The Personal History of David Copperfield, the field of nominees includes Tom Burke (The Souvenir), Kris Hitchen (Sorry We Missed You), Sam Adewunmi (The Last Tree), also nominated in the Most Promising Newcomer Category, and 2017 Best Actor winner Josh O'Connor (Only You).

Tilda Swinton (The Personal History of David Copperfield), whose daughter Honor Swinton Byrne (The Souvenir) features in this year's Most Promising Newcomer nominations, is joined by Julie Walters (Wild Rose), Jessica Barden (Scarborough), Elizabeth Debicki (Vita & Virginia) and Ruthxjiah Bellenea (The Last Tree) in being nominated for the Best Supporting Actress award. Swinton and Walters have both previously received The Richard Harris award at BIFA for their contributions to the British film industry.

Chiwetel Ejiofor is nominated for both The Douglas Hickox Award for Debut Director sponsored by Kodak & Pinewood and Best Supporting Actor for The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind. Also nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category are Peter Mullan (The Vanishing), Bluey Robinson (Dirty God), Edlison Manuel Olbera Núñez (Yuli - The Carlos Acosta Story) and Hugh Laurie (The Personal History of David Copperfield).

The 2019 BIFA nominations feature a strong show from documentaries. Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts are nominated for Best Director sponsored by Broadsword Event House for For Sama, as is Asif Kapadia for Diego Maradona. Both titles picked up five nominations overall; Kapadia continues his long association with BIFA with his fifth nomination, following past recognition for The Warrior and Amy. For Sama marks the first nomination for Al-Kateab and Watts.

The Richard Harris Award, introduced in 2002 in honour of Richard Harris, recognises outstanding contribution to British Film by an actor. Previous winners have been Daniel Day Lewis, Julie Walters, John Hurt, Emma Thompson and Judi Dench in 2018. This year's recipient will be announced later this month.

Winners will be announced at the British Independent Film Award Ceremony on Sunday 1 December at Old Billingsgate. The ceremony will be hosted by award-winning stand-up, writer and actress Aisling Bea.

BIFA NOMINATIONS 2019:

BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM

BAIT Mark Jenkin, Kate Byers, Linn Waite

FOR SAMA Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts

THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD Armando Iannucci, Simon Blackwell, Kevin Loader

THE SOUVENIR Joanna Hogg, Luke Schiller

WILD ROSE Tom Harper, Nicole Taylor, Faye Ward

BEST DIRECTOR

BEST SCREENPLAY

BEST ACTRESS

JESSIE BUCKLEY Wild Rose

HOLLIDAY GRAINGER Animals

SALLY HAWKINS Eternal Beauty

VICKY KNIGHT Dirty God

RENEE ZELLWEGER Judy

BEST ACTOR

SAM ADEWUMNI The Last Tree

TOM BURKE The Souvenir

KRIS HITCHEN Sorry We Missed You

JOSH O'CONNOR Only You

DEV PATEL The Personal History of David Copperfield

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

JESSICA BARDEN Scarborough

RUTHXJIAH BELLENEA The Last Tree

ELIZABETH DEBICKI Vita & Virginia

TILDA SWINTON The Personal History of David Copperfield

JULIE WALTERS Wild Rose

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

CHIWETEL EJIOFOR The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

HUGH LAURIE The Personal History of David Copperfield

EDLISON MANUEL OLBERA NÚÑEZ Yuli - The Carlos Acosta Story

PETER MULLAN The Vanishing

BLUEY ROBINSON Dirty God

THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD (DEBUT DIRECTOR)

BREAKTHROUGH PRODUCER

FINN BRUCE Tucked

KATE BYERS, LINN WAITE Bait

JOY GHARORO-AKPOJOTOR Blue Story [also produced by Damian Jones]

BECKY READ Three Identical Strangers [also produced by Grace Hughes-Hallett]

JACK SIDEY Moffie [also produced by Eric Abraham]

DEBUT SCREENWRITER

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER

SAM ADEWUMNI The Last Tree

VICKY KNIGHT Dirty God

LORN MACDONALD Beats

ROXANNE SCRIMSHAW Lynn + Lucy

HONOR SWINTON BYRNE The Souvenir

BEST DOCUMENTARY

COUP 53 Taghi Amirani, Walter Murch, Paul Zaentz

DIEGO MARADONA Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees, Paul Martin

FOR SAMA Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts

SEAHORSE Jeanie Finlay, Andrea Cornwell

TELL ME WHO I AM Ed Perkins, Simon Chinn

THE RAINDANCE DISCOVERY AWARD

A BUMP ALONG THE WAY Shelly Love

CHILDREN OF THE SNOW LAND Zara Balfour, Marcus Stephenson, Mark Hakansson

HERE FOR LIFE Andrea Luka Zimmerman, Adrian Jackson, James Lingwood, Michael Morris, Cressida Day

MUSCLE Gerard Johnson, Matthew James Wilkinson, Richard Wylie, Ed Barratt

THE STREET Zed Nelson

BEST BRITISH SHORT FILM

SUPPORTED BY BFI NETWORK

ANNA Dekel Berenson, Merlin Merton, Olga Beskhmelnitsyna

BOILING POINT Philip Barantini, Bart Ruspoli, James Cummings, Gabriella Callea, Grace Nelder

THE DEVIL'S HARMONY Dylan Holmes Williams, Jess O'Kane, Nathan Craig

GOLDFISH Hector Dockrill, Laura Dockrill, Benedict Turnbull, Harri Kamalanathan

SERIOUS TINGZ Abdou Cissé, Kieran Kenlock, Matt Ellingham

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM

BEST CASTING

SPONSORED BY CASTING SOCIETY OF AMERICA & SPOTLIGHT

SHAHEEN BAIG In Fabric

SHAHEEN BAIG, AISHA BYWATERS The Last Tree

KAHLEEN CRAWFORD, CAROLINE STEWART Only You

KAHLEEN CRAWFORD Wild Rose

SARAH CROWE The Personal History of David Copperfield

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

OLE BRATT BIRKELAND Judy

BENJAMIN KRACUN Beats

ZAC NICHOLSON The Personal History of David Copperfield

JAMIE D RAMSAY Moffie

ARI WEGNER In Fabric

BEST COSTUME DESIGN 

SUZIE HARMAN, ROBERT WORLEY The Personal History of David Copperfield

ANNA MARY SCOTT ROBBINS Wild Rose

GRACE SNELL The Souvenir

JANY TEMIME Judy

JO THOMPSON In Fabric

BEST EDITING

BEST EFFECTS

HOWARD JONES A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

PAUL MANN In Fabric

ANDY QUINN The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

BEST MAKE UP & HAIR DESIGN

SPONSORED BY MAC COSMETICS

MORTEN JACOBSEN, ROGIER SAMUELS, LINDELOTTE VAN DER MEER Dirty God

KAREN HARTLEY-THOMAS The Personal History of David Copperfield

EMMA SCOTT In Fabric

JODY WILLIAMS Wild Rose

JEREMY WOODHEAD Judy

BEST MUSIC

SPONSORED BY UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING GROUP

JACK ARNOLD Wild Rose

CAVERN OF ANTI-MATTER In Fabric

NAINITA DESAI For Sama

ANTONIO PINTO Diego Maradona

JD TWITCH, PENELOPE TRAPPES, STEPHEN HINDMAN Beats

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

SPONSORED BY STUDIO JUICE

CRISTINA CASALI The Personal History of David Copperfield

STÉPHANE COLLONGE The Souvenir

KAVE QUINN Judy

ANNE SEIBEL The White Crow

PAKI SMITH In Fabric

BEST SOUND

SUPPORTED BY HALO POST

ANNA MY BERTMARK, JONATHAN SEALE, JULES WOODS Gwen

DAVID BOWTLE-McMILLAN, JOAKIM SUNDSTRÖM, ROBERT FARR Beats

STEPHEN GRIFFITHS, TIM CAVAGIN, MAX WALSH, ANDY SHELLEY Diego Maradona

LEE WALPOLE, COLIN NICHOLSON, STUART HILLIKER Wild Rose

MARTIN PAVEY In Fabric


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