Lady Macbeth, Three Billboards, God’s Own Country Lead 2017 British Independent Film (BIFA) Nominations

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William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth led the 2017 British Independent Film nominations with a field-best 15 today. Armando Ianucci‘s The Death Of Stalin and Rungano Nyoni‘s I Am Not A Witch were right behind with 13 nods each. Not to be left out, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri received 11 nominations, including dual Supporting Actor nods for Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell.

God’s Own Country, the Brokeback Mountain for 2017, also scored 11 nominations including Best British Independent Film and two nods for its lead actors. Director Francis Lee earned an amazing four individual nods for Best Director, Best Debut Director and Best Screenplay and Debut Screenwriter.

In the category of Best International Independent Film, two Best Picture Oscar hopefuls were nominated – The Florida Project and Get Out. Last year, Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea made this cut with Moonlight winning.

But where there are surprise nominees there are even more shocking omissions. Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool, which was supposed to be Annette Bening’s Oscar comeback earned nominated for Bening’s co-stars Jamie Bell (Best Actor) and Julie Walters (Best Supporting Actress) but Bening herself didn’t make the cut. Also missing was Breathe. The film earned two nominations (for Makeup & Hair and Sound) but nothing for its stars Andrew Garfield or Claire Foy, nor its director Andy Serkis.

The winners will be announced on December 10th at a ceremony that will also present Gary Oldman with the 2017 BIFA Variety Award.

Here is the complete list of 2017 British Independent Film (BIFA) nominations.

Best British Independent Film
“The Death of Stalin”
“God’s Own Country”
“I Am Not a Witch”
“Lady Macbeth”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Best International Independent Film
“The Florida Project”
“Get Out”
“I Am Not Your Negro”
“Loveless”
“The Square”

Best Director
Armando Iannucci – “The Death of Stalin”
Francis Lee – God’s Own Country”
Martin McDonagh – “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Rungano Nyoni – “I Am Not a Witch”
William Oldroyd – “Lady Macbeth”

Best Screenplay
Alice Birch – “Lady Macbeth”
Armando Iannucci, David Schneider, Ian Martin – “The Death of Stalin”
Francis Lee – God’s Own Country”
Martin McDonagh – “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Rungano Nyoni – “I Am Not a Witch”

Best Actress
Emily Beecham – “Daphne”
Frances McDormand – “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Margaret Mulubwa – “I Am Not a Witch”
Florence Pugh – “Lady Macbeth”
Ruth Wilson – “Dark River”

Best Actor
Jamie Bell – “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool”
Paddy Considine – “Journeyman”
Johnny Harris – “Jawbone”
Josh O’Connor – “God’s Own Country”
Alec Secareanu – “God’s Own Country”

Best Supporting Actress
Naomi Ackie – “Lady Macbeth”
Patricia Clarkson – “The Party”
Kelly MacDonald – “Goodbye Christopher Robin”
Andrea Riseborough – “The Death of Stalin”
Julie Walters – “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool”

Best Supporting Actor
Simon Russell Beale – “The Death of Stalin”
Steve Buscemi – “The Death of Stalin”
Woody Harrelson – “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Ian Hart – “God’s Own Country”
Sam Rockwell – “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Most Promising Newcomer
Naomi Ackie – “Lady Macbeth”
Harry Gilby – “Just Charlie”
Cosmo Jarvis – “Lady Macbeth”
Harry Michell – “Chubby Funny”
Lily Newmark – “Pin Cushion”

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)
Deborah Haywood -“Pin Cushion”
Francis Lee – “God’s Own Country”
Thomas Napper – “Jawbone”
Rungani Nyoni – “I Am Not a Witch”
William Oldroyd – “Lady Macbeth”

Debut Screenwriter
Alice Birch – “Lady Macbeth”
Gaby Chiappe – “Their Finest”
Johnny Harris – “Jawbone”
Francis Lee – “God’s Own Country”
Rungani Nyoni – “I Am Not a Witch”

Breakthrough Producer
Gavin Humphries – “Pin Cushion”
Emily Morgan – “I Am Not a Witch”
Brendan Mullin, Katy Jackson – “Bad Day For The Cut”
Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly – “Lady Macbeth”
Jack Tarling, Manon Ardisson – “God’s Own Country”

The Discovery Award
“Even When I Fall”
“Halfway”
“In Another Life”
“Isolani R”
“My Pure Land”

Best Documentary
“Almost Heaven”
“Half Way”
“Kingdom Of Us”
“Uncle Howard”
“Williams”

Best British Short Film
“1745”
“Fish Story”
“The Entertainer”
“Work”
“Wren Boys”

Best Cinematography
Ben Davis – “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
David Gallego – “I Am Not a Witch”
Tat Radcliffe – “Jawbone”
Thomas Riedelsheimer – “Leaning Into the Wind”
Ari Wegner – “Lady Macbeth”

Best Casting
Shaheen Baig – “Lady Macbeth”
Shaheen Baig, Layla Merrick-Wolf – “God’s Own Country”
Sarah Crowe – “The Death of Stalin”
Sarah Halley Finn – “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Debbie McWilliams – “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool”

Best Costume Design
Dinah Collin – “My Cousin Rachel”
Suzie Harman – “The Death of Stalin”
Sandy Powell – “How to Talk to Girls at Parties”
Holly Rebecca – “I Am Not a Witch”
Holly Waddington – “Lady Macbeth”

Best Editing
Johnny Burke – “Williams”
David Charap – “Jawbone”
Jon Gregory – “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Peter Lambert – “The Death of Stalin”
Joe Martin – “Us And Them”

Best Effects
Nick Allder, Ben White – “The Ritual”
Luke Dodd – “Journeyman”
Effects team – “The Death of Stalin”
Dan Martin – “Double Date”
Chris Reynolds – “Their Finest”

Best Make Up & Hair Design
Julene Paton – “I Am Not a Witch”
Jan Sewell – “Breathe”
Nadia Stacey – “Journeyman”
Nicole Stafford – “The Death of Stalin”
Sian Wilson – “Lady Macbeth”

Best Music
Carter Burwell – “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Fred Frith – “Leaning Into The Wind”
Matt Kelly – “I Am Not a Witch”
Paul Weller – “Jawbone”
Christopher Willis – “The Death of Stalin”

Best Production Design
Jacqueline Abrahams – “Lady Macbeth”
Cristina Casali – “The Death of Stalin”
James Merifield – “Final Portrait”
Nathan Parker – “I Am Not a Witch”
Eve Stewart – “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool”

Best Sound
Anna Bertmark – “God’s Own Country”
Maiken Hansen – “I Am Not a Witch”
Andy Shelley, Steve Griffiths – “Jawbone”
Joakim Sundström – “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Sound team – “Breathe”

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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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