2023 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA): ‘All of Us Strangers’ Wins Best Film, Director, Screenplay, Supporting Performance for Paul Mescal

Winners of the 2023 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) were announced this evening live at at Old Billingsgate in London where Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers was named Best British Independent Film. Haigh himself also won Best Screenplay and Paul Mescal shared the Supporting Performance award win with Shaun Thomas from How to Have Sex.

The two wins tonight joined Strangers‘ three tech wins from the November 20 craft awards where it won Best Cinematography for Jamie D. Ramsay, Best Editing for Jonathan Alberts and Best Music Supervision for Connie Farr. The film earned 14 nominations overall.

Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature, How to Have Sex came in with 13 nominations and along with Thomas’ co-win, took home the awards for casting and Lead Performance for Mia Mckenna-Bruce. Sam H Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s Femme was also a triple winner: Best Joint Performance for Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, George Mackay and two craft awards, Best Costume Design for Buki Ebiesuwa and Best Makeup and Hair Design for Marie Deehan.

Raine Allen-Miller’s debut film Rye Lane came in with a field-best 16 nominations but came out with just two wins: Breakthrough Performance for Vivian Oparah and Best Music for Kwes.

The Richard Harris Award, introduced in 2002 in honour of Richard Harris, recognises outstanding contribution to British Film by an actor and this year went to Stephen Graham, known for his work in Boiling Point, Snatch, the Pirates of the Caribbean films and HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. Previous winners have been Daniel Day Lewis, Julie Walters, John Hurt, Emma Thompson, Judi Dench, Kristin Scott Thomas, Glenda Jackson, Riz Ahmed and Samantha Morton.

Here is the complete list of winners of the 2023 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).

Best British Independent Film
“All Of Us Strangers” – Andrew Haigh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey – WINNER
“Femme” – Sam H. Freeman, Ng Choon Ping, Myles Payne, Sam Ritzenberg
“How To Have Sex” – Molly Manning Walker, Ivana Mackinnon, Emily Leo, Konstantinos Kontovrakis
“Rye Lane” – Raine Allen-Miller, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo, Damian Jones
“Scrapper” – Charlotte Regan, Theo Barrowclough

Best International Independent Film Sponsored By Champagne Taittinger
“Anatomy Of A Fall” – Justine Triet, Arthur Harari, Marie-ange Luciani, David Thion – WINNER
“Fallen Leaves” – Aki Kauriskmäki
“Fremont” – Babak Jalali, Carolina Cavalli, Marjaneh Moghimi, Sudnya Shroff, Rachael Fung
“Monster” – Kore-eda Hirokazu, Sakamoto Yuji, Kawamura Genki, Yamada Kenji
“Past Lives” – Celine Song, David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler

Best Director Sponsored By Sky Cinema
Raine Allen-Miller – “Rye Lane”
Sam H. Freeman, Ng Choon Ping – “Femme”
Andrew Haigh – “All Of Us Strangers” – WINNER
Molly Manning Walker – “How To Have Sex”
Charlotte Regan – “Scrapper”

Best Screenplay Sponsored By Apple Original Films
Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia – “Rye Lane”
Sam H. Freeman, Ng Choon Ping – “Femme”
Andrew Haigh – “All Of Us Strangers” – WINNER
Molly Manning Walker – “How To Have Sex”
Charlotte Regan – “Scrapper”

Best Lead Performance
Jodie Comer – “The End We Start From”
Mia Mckenna-Bruce – “How To Have Sex” – WINNER
Tia Nomore – “Earth Mama”
Nabhaan Rizwan – “In Camera”
Andrew Scott – “All Of Us Strangers”
Tilda Swinton – “The Eternal Daughter”

Best Joint Lead Performance
Lola Campbell, Harris Dickinson – “Scrapper”
David Jonsson, Vivian Oparah – “Rye Lane”
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, George Mackay – “Femme” – WINNER

Best Supporting Performance (tie)
Ritu Arya – “Polite Society”
Jamie Bell – “All Of Us Strangers”
Samuel Bottomley – “How To Have Sex”
Alexandra Burke – “Pretty Red Dress”
Amir El-Masry – “In Camera”
Claire Foy – “All Of Us Strangers”
Paul Mescal – “All Of Us Strangers” – WINNER
Alia Shawkat – “Drift”
Shaun Thomas – “How To Have Sex” – WINNER
Katherine Waterston – “The End We Start From”

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) Sponsored By BBC Film
Raine Allen-Miller – “Rye Lane”
Sam H. Freeman, Ng Choon Ping – “Femme”
Savanah Leaf – “Earth Mama” – WINNER
Molly Manning Walker – “How To Have Sex”
Charlotte Regan – “Scrapper”

Breakthrough Producer Sponsored By Pinewood And Shepperton Studios
Theo Barrowclough – “Scrapper” – WINNER
Georgia Goggin – “Pretty Red Dress”
Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo – “Rye Lane” [Also produced by Damian Jones]
Gannesh Rajah – “If The Streets Were On Fire
Chi Thai – “Raging Grace”

Breakthrough Performance Sponsored By Netflix
Le’Shantey – “Bonsu Girl”
Lola Campbell – “Scrapper”
Priya Kansara – “Polite Society”
Mia Mckenna-Bruce – “How To Have Sex”
Vivian Oparah – “Rye Lane” – WINNER

Best Debut Screenwriter Sponsored By Film4
Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia – “Rye Lane”
Sam H. Freeman, Ng Choon Ping – “Femme”
Molly Manning Walker – “How To Have Sex”
Nida Manzoor – “Polite Society” – WINNER
Charlotte Regan – “Scrapper”

Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary
Chloe Abrahams – “The Taste Of Mango” – WINNER
Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn – “Another Body”
Ella Glendining – “Is There Anybody Out There?”
Alice Russell – “If The Streets Were On Fire”
Christopher Sharp – “Bobi Wine: The People’s President” [Also directed by Moses Bwayo]

The Raindance Maverick Award
“If The Streets Were On Fire” – Alice Russell, Gannesh Rajah – WINNER
“Is There Anybody Out There?” – Ella Glendining, Janine Marmot
“Name Me Lawand” – Edward Lovelace
“Raging Grace” – Paris Zarcilla, Chi Thai
“Red Herring” – Kit Vincent, Ed Owles

Best Feature Documentary Sponsored By Intermission Film
“Another Body” – Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn, Isabel Freeman, Elizabeth Woodward
“Bobi Wine: The People’s President” – Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp, John Battsek
“If The Streets Were On Fire” – Alice Russell, Gannesh Rajah – WINNER
“Lyra” – Alison Millar, Jackie Doyle
“Occupied City” – Steve Mcqueen, Bianca Stitger, Floor Onrust, Anna Smith-tenser

Best British Short Film
“Christopher At Sea” – Tom C.J. Brown, Laure Desmazières, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron, Amanda Miller, Hannah Stolarski, Nick Read, Emily-jane Brown
“Festival Of Slaps” – Abdou Cissé, Cheri Darbon, George Telfer – WINNER
“Lions” – Beru Tessema, Ama Ampadu
“Muna” – Warda Mohamed, Angela Moneke, Simon Hatton
“The Talent” – Thomas May Bailey, Emma D’Arcy, Ellen Spence

Best Casting Sponsored By Casting Society and Spotlight
Shaheen Baig – “Scrapper”
Kharmel Cochrane – “Rye Lane”
Kahleen Crawford – “All Of Us Strangers”
Isabella Odoffin – “How To Have Sex” – WINNER
Salome Oggenfuss, Geraldine Barón, Abby Harri – “Earth Mama”

Best Cinematography Sponsored By Harbor & Kodak
Olan Collardy – “Rye Lane”
Suzie Lavelle – “The End We Start From”
Molly Manning Walker – “Scrapper”
Jamie D. Ramsay – “All Of Us Strangers” – WINNER
James Rhodes – “Femme”

Best Costume Design
George Buxton – “How To Have Sex”
Oliver Cronk – “Scrapper”
Buki Ebiesuwa – “Femme” – WINNER
Cynthia Lawrence-John – “Rye Lane”
PC Williams – “The End We Start From”

Best Editing
Jonathan Alberts – “All Of Us Strangers” – WINNER
Victoria Boydell – “Rye Lane”
Paul Carlin – “Bobi Wine: The People’s President”
Avdhesh Mohla “High & Low – John Galliano”
Arttu Salmi – “The End We Start From”

Best Effects
Paddy Eason – “Polite Society”
Theodor Flo-Groeneboom – “The End We Start From”
Jonathan Gales, Richard Baker – “The Kitchen” – WINNER

Best Music Supervision
Ciara Elwis – “Femme”
Connie Farr – “All Of Us Strangers” – WINNER
David Fish – “Rye Lane”

Best Make-Up & Hair Design Sponsored By The Wall Group
Zoe Clare Brown – “All Of Us Strangers”
Claire Carter – “Polite Society”
Marie Deehan – “Femme”
Natasha Lawes – “How To Have Sex”
Bianca Simone Scott – “Rye Lane”

Best Original Music Sponsored By Universal Music Publishing Group
Adam Janota Bzowski – “Femme”
Patrick Jonsson – “Scrapper”
Kwes- “Rye Lane” – WINNER
Anna Meredith – “The End We Start From”
Ré Olunuga – “Girl”

Best Production Design Sponsored By ATC & Broadsword
Laura Ellis Cricks – “The End We Start From”
Sarah Finlay – “All Of Us Strangers”
Elena Muntoni – “Scrapper”
Nathan Parker – “The Kitchen” – WINNER
Anna Rhodes – “Rye Lane”

Best Sound Supported By Halo
Ben Baird, Jack Wensley, Adam Fletcher, Alexej Mungersdorff – “Scrapper”
Steve Fanagan – “How To Have Sex”
Stevie Haywood, Joakim Sundström, Per Bostrom – “All Of Us Strangers”
Mark Jenkin – “Enys Men” – WINNER
Jens Rosenlund-Petersen, Amy Felton, Joe Jackson, Tim Cavagin, Lori Dovi – “The End We Start From”

Photo by Parisa Taghizadeh, Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures