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The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports and promotes British independent cinema and filmmaking talent in
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, with the ceremony itself taking place in early December. Since 2015, BIFA has also hosted UK-wide talent development and film screening programmes with the support of Creative Skillset and the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
.


History

The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) were created in 1998 by Elliot Grove and Suzanne Ballantyne of the
Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove t ...
, with the aim of celebrating merit and achievement in independently funded British filmmaking, honouring new talent and promoting British films and filmmaking to a wider public audience. BIFA founding members include Phillip Alberstat, Chris Auty, André Burgess, Sally Caplan, Pippa Cross, Christopher Fowler, Lora Fox Gamble, Steven Gaydos, Norma Heyman,
Emma E. Hickox Emma E. Hickox A.C.E (born 11 April 1964) is a British film editor based in Los Angeles and London. A member of American Cinema Editors, Hickox has worked as a features and TV editor since the early 1990s. She has a varied and versatile resume ...
, Fred Hogge, Robert Jones, Steve Kenis, Alberto Lopez, Ollie Madden, Hamish McAlpine, Neil McCartney,
Saul Metzstein Saul Metzstein (born 30 December 1970) is a Scottish film director. He won the British Academy Scotland New Talent Award for best director in 2002 for '' Late Night Shopping''. Metzstein is the son of Isi Metzstein, the renowned modernist arc ...
, Martin Myers,
Sarah Radclyffe Sarah Radclyffe (born 14 November 1950), sometimes credited as Sarah Radcliffe, is a British film producer. She began working as associative producer in the late 1970s on such films as '' The Tempest'' (1979) directed by Derek Jarman. From ...
, Tracey Scoffield, Mark Shivas, Jim Wilson, and Michiyo Yoshizaki. The first BIFA ceremony took place on 29 October 1998. Winners included Ken Loach (for ''My Name is Joe''), Shane Meadows (for ''Twentyfour Seven'') and Ray Winstone (for ''Nil by Mouth''). The Special Jury Prize was awarded to Nik Powell, and the Best British Independent Film award went to ''My Name is Joe''.


Ceremony

The BIFA ceremony takes place in early December every year and is one of the first dates in the annual awards season. Most of the awards categories are for British independent feature films only, though there are awards for Best International Independent Film and Best British Short Film. There are also several honorary awards, such as the Special Jury Prize, the Richard Harris Award and the Variety Award. Awarded since 2013, the trophy has been a sculpture by Fredrikson Stallard for
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.


Award categories


Current categories

* Best British Independent Film * Best Director *
Best Screenplay Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...
* Best Lead Performance * Best Supporting Performance * Best Joint Lead Performance * Best Ensemble Performance * Breakthrough Performance * Best Documentary * Best British Short Film * Best International Independent Film * Best Casting * Best Cinematography * Best Costume Design * Best Editing * Best Effects * Best Make-Up & Hair Design * Best Original Music * Best Music Supervision * Best Production Design * Best Sound * The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) * Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary * Best Debut Screenwriter * Breakthrough Producer * The Discovery Award * The Richard Harris Award (hon) * The Variety Award (hon) * The Special Jury Prize (hon)


Discontinued categories

* Achievement in Production (1998–2014) * Producer of the Year (1999–2002, 2015) * Best Technical Achievement (2001–2016) *
Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to the ...
(1998–2021) * Best Actress (1998–2021) * Best Supporting Actor (2008–2021) * Best Supporting Actress (2008–2021)


Entry criteria

BIFA entries close in late August / early September. Main categories (British feature films): * Films must be over 70 minutes in length. * Films must have had a public screening to a paying audience, either on general release in the UK or at a British film festival or at one of BIFA's recognised international festivals. * Must be produced or majority co-produced by a British production company, or be in receipt of at least 51% of its budget from British source(s) and have sufficient British creative elements (e.g. Director, Writer, Producer, other cast & crew). * Where there is a major studio substantially funding a film, the total budget must not exceed $20 million. Best International Independent Film: * Films must have had a theatrical release in the UK within BIFA's eligibility dates for the given year, or have won an award at one of BIFA's recognised international film festivals.


Voting process

BIFA has a large pool of voters that consists of past BIFA winners and nominees, top British film industry professionals and experienced filmmakers from all areas of production. Although the pool is continually growing, fewer than 200 voters vote for the nominations in any one year. All entered films must be seen by a minimum number of voters and discussed at a voter meeting before being marked as having been given fair consideration. Once all entered films have been given fair consideration, votes are cast privately in two rounds: once to reduce all entries to long lists of around 15 films in each category, and again to reduce the long lists to the 5 final nominees. In calculating the results, BIFA takes into account the number of voters who have seen each film as well as how many voted for it. The winners in most categories are decided by independent juries, newly–appointed each year. Juries meet to discuss all nominations before voting confidentially for the winner. Exceptions include the honorary awards and the award for Best British Independent Film, the winner of which is decided by a confidential vote amongst all BIFA voters.


Year-round activity

Since 2015, BIFA has also hosted UK–wide talent development and film screening programmes with the support of Creative Skillset and the BFI.


BIFA Insider

Running from September 2015 to June 2016, BIFA Insider gave UK–based university and film school students the chance to watch award-winning British films for free online and participate in live-streamed Q&As with top craftspeople who worked on those films. Sessions included ''
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'' with production designer Jaqueline Abrahams, '' The Selfish Giant'' with casting director Amy Hubbard and '' Frank'' with composer Stephen Rennicks.


BIFA Presents

BIFA Presents is an ongoing project wherein BIFA supports the theatrical distribution of award-nominated and -winning films with special preview and event screenings. In February 2017, BIFA Presents hosted exclusive previews of the Oscar-winning ''
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'' in conjunction with Everyman Cinemas.


BIFA Independents

BIFA Independents is a series of regular screenings of films featuring BIFA-winning and nominated talent. Supported by the BFI,
Odeon Cinemas Odeon, stylised as ODEON, is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsidiary of AMC Theatres. It uses the famous name ...
, Vue Cinemas and
Everyman Cinemas Everyman Media Group plc (known as Everyman Cinemas) is a cinema company based in London, England. The company was founded in 2000, when entrepreneur Daniel Broch bought the original Everyman Cinema in Hampstead, London, which dated to 1933, ...
, the screenings take place in 20 UK locations and aim to increase the number of people who watch British independent films at the cinema. The first BIFA Independents screening was in December 2016, featuring Andrea Arnold's Best British Independent Film-winning ''
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''.


Patrons

BIFA Patrons include: * Mike Figgis * Tom Hollander * Adrian Lester * Ken Loach * Ewan McGregor *
Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom ...
* Samantha Morton *
James Nesbitt William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland. From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994) ...
*
Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor, television producer and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage rol ...
*
Trudie Styler Trudie Styler (born 6 January 1954) is an English actress and film producer. Early life and family Styler was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, the daughter of Pauline and Harry Styler, a farmer and factory worker. When Styler was two years ...
*
Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition t ...
*
Meera Syal Meera Syal FRSL (born Feroza Syal; 27 June 1961) is a English comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created '' Goodness Gracious Me'' and portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, ...
* David Thewlis * Ray Winstone * Michael Winterbottom


See also

* ''''


References


External links


Official website

IMDb page
{{Cinema of the United Kingdom 1998 establishments in the United Kingdom Awards established in 1998 British film awards