Kneecap, Love Lies Bleeding And The Outrun Lead BIFA 2024 Nominations

Whilst the eyes of the world may be locked firmly on the other side of the...

International Nov 7, 2024 0 8 Add to Reading List

Kneecap, Love Lies Bleeding And The Outrun Lead BIFA 2024 Nominations

Whilst the eyes of the world may be locked firmly on the other side of the Atlantic this morning, back here in Blighty there is at least some positivity still to be shared yet. Having shone last year when the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes brought Hollywood to a standstill, the independent British cinema scene has continued to shine throughout 2024, with revered greats, rising stars, returning masters, and bold new narratives all emerging to ensure the flame for indies from these shores has never burned brighter. As such, it comes as no great surprise that the announcement of this year's British Independent Film Awards nominees is a veritable treasure trove of great art and great artists that stand to represent the very best British filmmaking has to offer.

Leading the pack with an impressive 14 nominations — including nods for Best British Independent Film, Director, Screenplay, and Debut Director — is British-Irish filmmaker Rich Peppiatt's riotously funny yet politically incisive rap trio origin story Kneecap. Nipping at its heels with a similarly impressive 12 noms in all is 2020 BIFA award winner Rose Glass' sophomore feature Love Lies Bleeding. Her ripping — and indeed ripped — queer crime noir is not only up for the likes of Best British Independent Film, Director, and Screenplay too, but also for Joint Lead Performance in recognition of Kristen Stewart and Katy O'Brian's turns as star-and-steroid-crossed lovers Lou and Jackie. Nora Fingscheidt's sensitive addiction drama The Outrun, based on Amy Liptrot's same-named bestseller, has also proven popular, garnering nine nominations and appearing on the shortlists for the likes of Director, Screenplay, and British Independent Film, as well as Lead Actor for Saoirse Ronan's remarkably nuanced and empathetic portrayal of recovering alcoholic Rona.

Elsewhere, in a strong season for British cinema stalwarts, Academy Award winner Andrea Arnold's magical-social-realist picture Bird has soared to a healthy seven nominations, whilst Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Michele Austin are both in the running for Lead and Supporting Actor gongs for their work as fraught sisters in Mike Leigh's domestic family drama Hard Truths. And on the global front, the likes of Sean Baker's Anora, Alice Rohrwacher's La Chimera, and Payal Kapadia's All We Imagine As Light are all set to duke it out in the International Independent Film category.

As you can likely tell, there's bangers left, right, and centre among this year's BIFA nominations. Here are all the main nominations for the British Independent Film Awards 2024.