Last year, the awards sweep of "The King's Speech" was, in a way, begun by the British Independent Film Awards, an organisation that's been running for a decade-and-a-half, of increasingly prominent stature, who anointed Tom Hooper's period drama their Best British Film Award, beginning a string of glory that took it all the way to Best Picture at the Oscars. However, it led to many accusing the body, by giving their top-prize to a solid, but safe seemingly made to pick up BAFTAs, of losing their edge.
This year's ceremony took place last night, in Old Billingsgate Fish Market in London, and hosted by the spectacularly, gloriously drunk "Bridesmaids" star Chris O'Dowd, and few such accusations could be banded about this time out, with the jury seeing fit to make Paddy Considine's "Tyrannosaur," an unrelentingly tough kitchen sink drama, which has only figured into the wider awards discussion thanks to a grassroots campaign in support of long-shot nominee Olivia Colman, its big winner.
The film walked away with the top-prize, Best British Independent Film, Best Actress for Colman, and the Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director for Considine, beating off much more widely-lauded competition, and we have to say, we tip our hat to the jury for walking off the beaten track a bit here.
Otherwise, the love was shared around; Lynne Ramsay took Best Director for "We Need To Talk About Kevin," Michael Fassbender picked up Best Actor for "Shame," Richard Ayoade was awarded Best Screenplay for his debut feature "Submarine," Oscar front-runner Vanessa Redgrave won Best Supporting Actress for "Coriolanus," and "Spaced" veteran Michael Smiley was the surprise victor as Best Supporting Actor for his turn in "Kill List."
The most pleasant surprise was that Andrew Haigh's "Weekend," which we'd previously complained of being mostly shut out of the awards, won both of the prizes it was nominated for, Most Promising Newcomer, for star Tom Cullen, and Best Achivement In Production — suggesting that had it been nominated for more, it might have taken more. Meanwhile, "Senna," as expected, took Best Documentary, "A Separation" continued its sweep of Foreign Language categories, "Chalk" took Best Short, and drama "Leaving Baghdad" won The Raindance Award. Ralph Fiennes and Kenneth Branagh were also honored with lifetime achievement prizes.
The biggest loser of the night, however, was "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," nominated for seven awards, but winning only Best Technical Achievement, for Maria Djurkovic's astonishing production design. It's likely that the jury may have felt that it was too large and prestigious to take anything here, and we're still expecting it to pull a strong showing at the Oscars, but it's another blow for a film that's facing a bigger battle at the Academy Awards that we'd initially thought. That aside, however, we've got very little to quibble with here, and can only hope that the BIFAs have such a bounty of riches to award next year. Full list of nominees and winners below.
Best British Independent Film
"Senna"
"Shame"
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
"Tyrannosaur"
"We Need To Talk About Kevin"
Best Director
Ben Wheatley — "Kill List"
Steve McQueen — "Shame"
Tomas Alfredson — "TInker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Paddy Considine — "Tyrannosaur"
Lynne Ramsay — "We Need To Talk About Kevin"
The Douglas Hickox Award [Best Debut Director]
Joe Cornish — "Attack The Block"
Ralph Fiennes — "Coriolanus"
John Michael McDonagh — "The Guard"
Richard Ayoade — "Submarine"
Paddy Considine — "Tyrannosaur"
Best Screenplay
John Michael McDonagh – "The Guard"
Ben Wheatley, Amy Jump – "Kill List"
Abi Morgan, Steve McQueen – "Shame"
Richard Ayoade – "Submarine"
Lynne Ramsay, Rory Kinnear – "We Need To Talk About Kevin"
Best Actress
Rebecca Hall — "The Awakening"
Mia Wasikowska — "Jane Eyre"
MyAnna Buring — "Kill List"
Olivia Colman — "Tyrannosaur"
Tilda Swinton — "We Need To Talk About Kevin"
Best Actor
Brendan Gleeson — "The Guard"
Neil Maskell — "Kill List"
Michael Fassbender — "Shame"
Gary Oldman — "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Peter Mullan — "Tyrannosaur"
Best Supporting Actress
Felicity Jones — "Albatross"
Vanessa Redgrave — "Coriolanus"
Carey Mulligan — "Shame"
Sally Hawkins — "Submarine"
Kathy Burke — "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Best Supporting Actor
Michael Smiley — "Kill List"
Tom Hardy — "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Benedict Cumberbatch — "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Eddie Marsan — "Tyrannosaur"
Ezra Miller — "We Need To Talk About Kevin"
Most Promising Newcomer
Jessica Brown-Findlay — "Albatross"
John Boyega — "Attack the Block"
Craig Roberts — "Submarine"
Yasmin Paige — "Submarine"
Tom Cullen — "Weekend"
Best Achievement In Production
"Kill List"
"Tyrannosaur"
"Weekend"
"Wild Bill"
"You Instead"
Best Technical Achivement
Chris King, Gregers Sall — Editing — "Senna"
Sean Bobbitt — Cinematography — "Shame"
Joe Walker — Editing — "Shame"
Maria Djurkovic — Production Design — "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Seamus McGarvey — Cinematography — "We Need To Talk About Kevin"
Best Documentary
"Hell and Back Again"
"Life in A Day"
"Project Nim"
"Senna"
"TT3D: Closer To The Edge"
Best British Short
"0507"
"Chalk"
"Love At First Sight"
"Rite"
"Rough Skin"
Best Foreign Independent Film
"Animal Kingdom"
"Drive"
"Pina"
"A Separation"
"The Skin I Live In"
The Raindance Award
"Acts of Godfrey"
"Black Pond"
"Hollow"
"Leaving Baghdad"
"A Thousand Kisses Deep"