2015 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) Nominations: The Lobster Leads with 7

The British Independent Film Awards (the U.K.’s version of the The Independent Spirit Awards in the U.S.) have announced their nominees and Cannes entry The Lobster from Yorgos Lanthimos and starring Colin Farrell, Ben Whishaw and Olivia Colman received a field best seven nominations including for each of those actors.

Two other films earned six nominations apiece; Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth, starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard and Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years starring Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay. Both of these films are directly competing in the same top categories of Best British Independent Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress.

The music documentary Amy, about British chanteuse Amy Winehouse, managed top mentions in Best British Independent Film and Best Director as well as Producer, Editing and Documentary. Ex Machina also played well, landing in Best British Independent Film and Best Director as well as two craft nominations.

Some Oscar hopefuls got a boost while others probably a bit of a setback. Brooklyn didn’t manage a Film or Director nomination but landing three acting nods, a screenplay and casting mention. Suffragette managed four acting nominations but no mention outside that craft. The Danish Girl scraped by with a single nomination and not for Eddie Redmayne. Alicia Vikander was the sole mention for the film (she also co-stars in Ex Machina). Interestingly enough, she managed this nomination in Lead while being pushed in Supporting by Focus Features here in the U.S.

Ian McKellen was snubbed for Mr. Holmes (although his junior co-star Milo Parker pulled off a Most Promising Newcomer mention) in favor of the likes of Tom Hardy in Legend and Tom Hiddleston in High-Rise. In the Best Foreign Independent Film category Son of Saul, Carol and Room made the list of Oscar hopefuls.

Full list of nominees below:

Best British Independent Film
“Amy”
“Ex Machina”
“45 Years”
“The Lobster”
“Macbeth”

Best Director
Asif Kapadia, “Amy”
Alex Garland, “Ex Machina”
Andrew Haigh, “45 Years”
Yorgos Lanthimos, “The Lobster”
Justin Kurzel, “Macbeth”

Best Actor
Tom Courtenay, “45 Years”
Colin Farrell, “The Lobster”
Michael Fassbender, “Macbeth”
Tom Hardy, “Legend”
Tom Hiddleston, “High-Rise”

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard, “Macbeth”
Carey Mulligan, “Suffragette”
Charlotte Rampling, “45 Years”
Saoirse Ronan, “Brooklyn”
Alicia Vikander, “The Danish Girl”

Best Supporting Actor
Luke Evans, “High-Rise”
Brendan Gleeson, “Suffragette”
Domhnall Gleeson, “Brooklyn”
Sean Harris, “Macbeth”
Ben Whishaw, “The Lobster”

Best Supporting Actress
Helena Bonham Carter, “Suffragette”
Olivia Colman, “The Lobster”
Anne-Marie Duff, “Suffragette”
Sienna Miller, “High-Rise”
Julie Walters, “Brooklyn”

Best Screenplay
Nick Hornby, “Brooklyn”
Alex Garland, “Ex Machina”
Andrew Haigh, “45 Years”
Amy Jump, “High-Rise”
Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou, “The Lobster”

Best Foreign Independent Film
“Carol”
“Force Majeure”
“Girlhood”
“Room”
“Son of Saul”

Best Debut Director (Douglas Hickox Award)
Chris and Ben Blaine, “Nina Forever”
Corin Hardy, “The Hallow”
Paul Katis, “Kajaki: The True Story”
John Maclean, “Slow West”
Stephen Fingleton, “The Survivalist”

Best Achievement in Craft
Chris King (editing), “Amy”
Fiona Weir (casting), “Brooklyn”
Mark Digby (production design), “Ex Machina”
Andrew Whitehurst (production design), “Ex Machina”
Adam Arkapaw (cinematography), “Macbeth”

Best Documentary
“Amy”
“Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance”
“How to Change the World”
“Palio”
“A Syrian Love Story”

Most Promising Newcomer
Agyness Dean, “Sunset Song”
Mia Goth, “The Survivalist”
Abigail Hardingham, “Nina Forever”
Milo Parker, “Mr. Holmes”
Bel Powley, “A Royal Night Out”

Producer of the Year
James Gay-Rees, “Amy”
Tristan Goligher, “45 Years”
Paul Katis and Andrew De Lotbiniere, “Kajaki: The True Story”
Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Yorgos Lanthimos and Lee Magiday, “The Lobster”
David A. Hughes and David Moores, “The Violators”

Raindance Discovery Award
“Aaaaaaaah!”
“Burn Burn Burn”
“Orion: The Man Who Would Be King”
“The Return”
“Winter”

Best Short Film
“Balcony”
“Crack”
“Edmond”
“Love is Blind”
“Manoman”