‘The Favourite’ triumphs at British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) with record-setting 10 wins

The British Independent Film Awards has chosen The Favourite as the Best British Independent Film of 2018, one of its 10 record-setting wins today. 

Among those wins, Olivia Colman continued her perfect record at the BIFAs, taking home Best Actress to make it four wins from four nominations from the group. 

Bart Layton’s American Animals also picked up two awards: the Debut Screenwriter prize for writer-director Layton, and the previously announced Best Editing craft award.

Newcomer Joe Cole was a surprise winner in the Best Actor category for his role in Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s Thai boxing picture A Prayer Before Dawn, beating out formidable competition such as Joaquin Phoenix and Steve Coogan. Elsewhere in the acting categories, Alessandro Nivola also triumphed over a strong field to win Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Sebastián Lelio’s Disobedience.

Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here also won two BIFAs – Best Music and Best Sound.

The Favourite lead the field with 13 nominations. Bart Layton’s American Animals was next with 11 nominations, and Michael Pearce’s Beast had 10.

Judi Dench and Felicity Jones were both recipients of honorary awards, while UK filmmaker Horace Ové received the event’s Special Jury Prize.

Here is the full list of nominees with winners in bold.

Best British Independent Film
“AMERICAN ANIMALS”
“BEAST”
“DISOBEDIENCE”
“THE FAVOURITE” – WINNER
“YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE”

Best Director
ANDREW HAIGH (“Lean on Pete”)
YORGOS LANTHIMOS (“The Favourite”) – WINNER
BART LAYTON (“American Animals”)
MICHAEL PEARCE (“Beast”)
LYNNE RAMSAY (“You Were Never Really Here”)

Best Screenplay
DEBORAH DAVIS, TONY McNAMARA (“The Favourite”) – WINNER
BART LAYTON (“American Animals”)
SEBASTIAN LELIO, REBECCA LENKIEWICZ (“Disobedience”)
MICHAEL PEARCE (“Beast”)
LYNNE RAMSAY (“You Were Never Really Here”)

Best Actress
GEMMA ARTERTON (“The Escape”)
JESSIE BUCKLEY (“Beast”)
OLIVIA COLMAN (“The Favourite”) – WINNER
MAXINE PEAKE (“Funny Cow”)
RACHEL WEISZ (“Disobedience”)

Best Supporting Actress
NINA ARIANDA (“Stan & Ollie”)
RACHEL McADAMS (“Disobedience”)
EMMA STONE (“The Favourite”)
RACHEL WEISZ (“The Favourite”) – WINNER
MOLLY WRIGHT (“Apostasy”)

Best Actor
JOE COLE (“A Prayer Before Dawn”) – WINNER
STEVE COOGAN (“Stan & Ollie”)
RUPERT EVERETT (“The Happy Prince”)
JOAQUIN PHOENIX (“You Were Never Really Here”)
CHARLIE PLUMMER (“Lean on Pete”)

Best Supporting Actor
STEVE BUSCEMI (“Lean on Pete”)
BARRY KEOGHAN (“American Animals”)
ALESSANDRO NIVOLA (“Disobedience”) – WINNER
EVAN PETERS (“American Animals”)
DOMINIC WEST (“Colette”)

Most Promising Newcomer
JESSIE BUCKLEY (“Beast”) – WINNER
MICHAELA COEL (“Been So Long”)
LIV HILL (“Jellyfish”)
MARCUS RUTHERFORD (“Obey”)
MOLLY WRIGHT (“Apostasy”)

Best Casting
DIXIE CHASSAY, (“The Favourite”) – WINNER
JULIE HARKIN, (“Beast”)
AVY KAUFMAN, (“American Animals”)
ANDY PRYOR, (“Stan & Ollie”)
MICHELLE SMITH, (“Apostasy”)

The Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director
RICHARD BILLINGHAM (“Ray & Liz”) – WINNER
DANIEL KOKOTAJLO (“Apostasy”)
MATT PALMER (“Calibre”)
MICHAEL PEARCE (“Beast”)
LEANNE WELHAM (“Pili”)

Debut Screenwriter
KAREN GILLAN (“The Party’s Just Beginning”)
DANIEL KOKOTAJLO (“Apostasy”)
BART LAYTON (“American Animals”) – WINNER
MATT PALMER (“Calibre”)
MICHAEL PEARCE (“Beast”)

Breakthrough Producer
KRISTIAN BRODIE (“Beast”)
JACQUI DAVIES (“Ray & Liz”) – WINNER
ANNA GRIFFIN (“Calibre”)
MARCIE MACLELLAN (“Apostasy”)
FAYE WARD (“Stan & Ollie”)

The Discovery Award
“THE DIG”
“IRENE’S GHOST”
“A MOMENT IN THE REEDS”
“SUPER NOVEMBER”
“VOYAGEUSE” – WINNER

Best Documentary
“BEING FRANK: THE CHRIS SIEVEY STORY”
“EVELYN” – WINNER
“ISLAND”
“NAE PASARAN”
“UNDER THE WIRE”

Best British Short Film
“THE BIG DAY” – WINNER
“BITTER SEA”
“THE FIELD”
“TO KNOW HIM”

Best International Independent Film
“CAPERNAUM”
“COLD WAR”
“THE RIDER”
“ROMA” – WINNER
“SHOPLIFTERS”

Best Cinematography
“AMERICAN ANIMALS”
“THE FAVOURITE” – WINNER
“LEAN ON PETE”
“A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN”
“YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE”

Best Costume Design
“COLETTE”
“AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN”
“THE FAVOURITE” – WINNER
“PETERLOO”
“STAN & OLLIE”

Best Editing
“AMERICAN ANIMALS” – WINNER
“THE FAVOURITE”
“HAPPY NEW YEAR, COLIN BURSTEAD”
“A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN”
“YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE”

Best Make-up & Hair Design
“COLETTE”
“THE FAVOURITE” – WINNER
“PETERLOO”
“A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN”
“STAN & OLLIE”

Best Music
“AMERICAN ANIMALS”
“BEAST”
“FUNNY COW”
“ISLAND OF THE HUNGRY GHOSTS”
“YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE”- WINNER

Best Production Design
“COLETTE”
“THE FAVOURITE” – WINNER
“PETERLOO”
“RAY & LIZ”
“STAN & OLLIE”

Best Sound
“AMERICAN ANIMALS”
“THE FAVOURITE”
“A PRAYER BEFORE DAWN”
“TIME TRIAL”
“YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE”- WINNER

Best Effects
“DEAD IN A WEEK (OR YOUR MONEY BACK)”
“EARLY MAN” – WINNER
“PETERLOO”

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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