British Independent Film Awards 2021: the nominations in full

The nominations for this year’s British Independent Film Awards were announced this morning at an event at Curzon Soho. A total of 28 British films picked up nominations, with Kenneth Branagh’s autobiographical Belfast and Philip Barantini’s single-shot restaurant drama Boiling Point taking a joint lead with 11 nominations each.

Following with nine nominations apiece were two films by debut directors – Aleem Khan’s After Love and Prano Bailey-Bond’s Censor – as well as Joanna Hogg’s autobiographical sequel The Souvenir Part II, all three backed by the BFI Film Fund.

After Love, The Souvenir Part II and Boiling Point are all up for the award for best British independent film – a category rounded out by Clio Barnard’s Ali & Ava (which has seven nominations overall) and Sean Durkin’s The Nest (which has six). These five films also fill up the best director category – a rare instance of best director and best film being exactly aligned.

After Love, which was backed by the BFI Film Fund and distributed around the UK by the BFI and released both on Blu-ray and to stream on BFI Player, is the only title by a debut director competing for best independent film. It also received nominations for best screenplay, best debut director, best debut screenplay and best casting, as well as three in acting categories: Joanna Scanlon for best actress, Nathalie Richard for best supporting actress and Talid Ariss as best supporting actor.

Among the other nominated films backed by the BFI Film Fund with National Lottery money are Ali & Ava, Censor, Sweetheart, Benediction, The Power, Pirates, True Things, Wildfire and The Souvenir Part II. Bank Job and Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché both received funding via the BFI Doc Society Fund, while two shorts developed through BFI NETWORK are nominated for best short: Egúngún (Masquerade) and Precious Hair and Beauty. Rebel Dykes, which will be released in UK cinemas and digitally by the BFI and Bohemia Media on 26 November, is nominated for The Raindance Discovery Award.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Sunday 5 December, with craft categories revealed on 18 November.

After Love – Aleem Khan, Matthieu De Braconier
Ali & Ava – Clio Barnard, Tracy O’Riordan
Boiling Point – Philip Barantini, James Cummings, Bart Ruspoli, Hester Ruoff
The Nest – Sean Durkin, Ed Guiney, Derrin Schlesinger, Rose Garnett, Amy Jackson, Cristina Piovesan
The Souvenir Part II – Joanna Hogg, Ed Guiney, Emma Norton, Andrew Lowe, Luke Schiller

Philip Barantini – Boiling Point
Clio Barnard – Ali & Ava
Sean Durkin – The Nest
Joanna Hogg – The Souvenir Part II 
Aleem Khan – After Love

Caitríona Balfe – Belfast
Carrie Coon – The Nest
Claire Rushbrook – Ali & Ava
Joanna Scanlan – After Love
Ruth Wilson – True Things

Judi Dench – Belfast
Jo Hartley – Sweetheart
Nathalie Richard – After Love
Vinette Robinson – Boiling Point
Tilda Swinton – The Souvenir Part II

Riz Ahmed – Encounter
Adeel Akhtar – Ali & Ava
Stephen Graham – Boiling Point
Jude Law – The Nest
James Norton – Nowhere Special

Talid Ariss – After Love
Richard Ayoade – The Souvenir Part II
Lucian-River Chauhan – Encounter
Ciarán Hinds – Belfast
Ray Panthaki – Boiling Point

Clio Barnard – Ali & Ava
Terence Davies – Benediction
Sean Durkin – The Nest
Joanna Hogg – The Souvenir Part II
Aleem Khan – After Love

Mátyás Erdély – The Nest
Magdalena Kowalczyk – Cow
Matthew Lewis – Boiling Point 
Annika Summerson – Censor
Haris Zambarloukos – Belfast

Michael O’Connor – The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
Grace Snell – The Souvenir Part II
Guy Speranza – Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Annie Symons – Benediction
Charlotte Walter – Belfast

Iain Cooke – Pirates 
Connie Farr, Harry Escott – Ali & Ava
Jed Kurzel – Encounter
Clint Mansell – In the Earth 
Van Morrison – Belfast

Steven Bray, Mike Knights – DASHCAM
Gary Brown, István Molnár, Dan Martin – Censor
Rupert Davies – The Electrical Life of Louis Wain

Helle Le Fevre – The Souvenir Part II
Rebecca Lloyd, Jacob Schulsinger, Nicolas Chaudeurge – Cow
Úna Ní Dhonghaíle – Belfast
Mark Towns – Censor
Ben Wheatley – In the Earth 

Siobhan Harper-Ryan – The Souvenir Part II
Vickie Lang, Kristyan Mallett, Donald McInnes – The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
Ruth Pease – Censor
Nadia Stacey – Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Wakana Yoshihara – Belfast

Jim Clay – Belfast
Stéphane Collonge – The Souvenir Part II
Suzie Davies – The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
Aimee Meek – Boiling Point
Paulina Rzeszowska – Censor

Nicolas Becker, Cyril Holtz, Linda Forsen – Cow
James Drake – Boiling Point 
Tim Harrison, Jamie Roden, Adele Fletcher – Censor
Martin Pavey – In the Earth 
Andrew Stirk, Paul Davies, Morgan Muse, Bernard O’Reilly, Julian Howarth – Encounter

Lauryn Ajufo – Boiling Point
Nell Barlow – Sweetheart
Max Harwood – Everybody’s Talking About Jamie
Jude Hill – Belfast
Ellora Torchia – In the Earth

Cow – Andrea Arnold, Kat Mansoor
Dying to Divorce – Chloë Fairweather, Sinead Kirwan 
I Am Belmaya – Sue Carpenter, Christopher Hird
Keyboard Fantasies – Posy Dixon, Liv Proctor
Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché – Paul Sng, Celeste Bell, Zoë Howe, Rebecca Mark-Lawson, Matthew Silverman, Daria Nitsche

Prano Bailey-Bond – Censor
Celeste Bell – Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché [also directed by Paul Sng]
Cathy Brady – Wildfire
Aleem Khan – After Love
Marley Morrison – Sweetheart

Michelle Antoniades – Sweetheart 
Helen Jones – Censor
Jessica Malik – She Will [also produced by Bob Last]
Hester Ruoff – Boiling Point [also produced by Bart Ruspoli]
Rob Watson – The Power [also produced by Matthew James Wilkinson] 

Prano Bailey-Bond – Censor [also Written by Anthony Fletcher]
Cathy Brady – Wildfire
Aleem Khan – After Love
Marley Morrison – Sweetheart
Reggie Yates – Pirates

Bank Job – Daniel Edelstyn, Hilary Powell, Christopher Hird
The Bike Thief – Matt Chambers, Pk Fellowes, Sophia Gibber, Lene Bausager
I Am Belmaya – Sue Carpenter, Christopher Hird
Poly Styrene: I Am a Cliché – Paul Sng, Celeste Bell, Zoë Howe, Rebecca Mark-Lawson, Matthew Silverman, Daria Nitsche
Rebel Dykes – Harri Shanahan, Siân A. Williams, Siobhan Fahey

Egúngún (Masquerade) – Olive Nwosu, Alex Polunin
Femme – Sam H. Freeman, Ng Choon Ping, Sam Riztenberg, Hayley Williams, Rienjke Attoh 
Night of the Living Dread – Ida Melum, Laura Jayne Tunbridge, Hannah Kelso, Danielle Goff 
Play It Safe – Mitch Kalisa, Chris Toumazou
Precious Hair & Beauty – John Ogunmuyiwa, Sophia Gibber, Tony Longe, Lene Bausager

Compartment No. 6 – Juho Kuosmanen, Livia Ulman, Andris Feldmanis, Jussi Rantamäki, Emilia Haukka
First Cow – Kelly Reichardt, Jon Raymond, Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani
Flee – Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Amin Nawabi, Monica Hellstrøm, Signe Byrge Sørensen
Petite Maman – Céline Sciamma, Bénédicte Couvreur
Pleasure – Ninja Thyberg, Peter Modestij, Erik Hemmendorff, Eliza Jones, Markus Waltå

Shaheen Baig – After Love
Shaheen Baig – Ali & Ava
Shaheen Baig – Pirates 
Lucy Bevan, Emily Brockmann – Belfast
Carolyn McLeod – Boiling Point 

To be announced