Andrew Haigh’s touching new drama All Of Us Strangers was the big winner at the 2023 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).
As the calendar year draws to a close, we’re also inching close toward the season that will see multiple prestigious awards bodies, in theory, hand the best films of the year a golden statuette. The season kicked off with the British Independent Film Awards, also known as BIFA 2023, which were held in London on the 3rd of December.
Lolly Adefope and Kiell Smith-Bynoe hosted the event which celebrated British cinema, especially the slightly lesser-seen films with budgets far smaller than that of Oppenheimer. There were some terrific films nominated this year, and the roster of winners was as surprising as it was satisfying.
Andrew Haigh’s All Of Us Strangers was the biggest winner of the night, taking home a total of four awards plus three previously announced ones. Haigh was named Best Director and the queer drama was also named Best British Independent Film.
Paul Mescal tied with How To Have Sex’s Shaun Thomas for Best Supporting Performance, while Mia McKenna-Bruce beat her fellow nominees such as Andew Scott, Tilda Swinton and Jodie Comer for Best Lead Performance for her fearless turn in Molly Manning Walker’s debut film.
BIFA abandoned gendered acting categories in 2022, replacing the traditional Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting actor categories with Best Lead Performance, Best Supporting Performance, Best Joint Lead Performance and Best Ensemble Performance.
Femme, which we were big fans of, took home Best Joint Lead Performance for George McKay and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett. Rye Laneās Vivian Oparahās vibrant performance was named this yearās Breakthrough Performance.
Here’s the full list of BIFA 2023 winners.
Best British Independent Film
All Of Us Strangers ā Andrew Haigh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey
Femme ā Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping, Myles Payne, Sam Ritzenberg
How To Have Sex ā Molly Manning Walker, Ivana MacKinnon, Emily Leo, Konstantinos Kontovrakis
Rye Lane ā Raine Allen-Miller, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo, Damian Jones
Scrapper ā Charlotte Regan, Theo Barrowclough
Best Joint Lead Performance
Lola Campbell, Harris Dickinson ā Scrapper
David Jonsson, Vivian Oparah ā Rye Lane
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, George MacKay ā Femme
Best Lead Performance
Jodie Comer ā The End We Start From
Mia McKenna-Bruce ā How To Have Sex
Tia Nomore ā Earth Mama
Nabhaan Rizwan ā In Camera
Andrew Scott ā All Of Us Strangers
Tilda Swinton ā The Eternal Daughter
Best Director
Raine Allen-Miller ā Rye Lane
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping ā Femme
Andrew Haigh ā All Of Us Strangers
Molly Manning Walker ā How To Have Sex
Charlotte Regan ā Scrapper
Best Screenplay
Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia ā Rye Lane
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping ā Femme
Andrew Haigh ā All Of Us Strangers
Molly Manning Walker ā How To Have Sex
Charlotte Regan ā Scrapper
Best Supporting Performance
Ritu Aryu ā Polite Society
Jamie Bell ā All Of Us Strangers
Samuel Bottomley ā How To Have Sex
Alexandra Burke ā Pretty Red Dress
Amir El-Masry ā In Camera
Claire Foy ā All Of Us Strangers
Paul Mescal ā All Of Us Strangers (tie)
Alia Shawkat ā Drift
Shaun Thomas ā How To Have Sex (tie)
Katherine Waterston ā The End We Start From
Best Feature Documentary
Another Body ā Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn, Isabel Freeman, Elizabeth Woodward
Bobi Wine: The People’s President ā Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp, John Battsek
If The Streets Were On Fire ā Alice Russell, Gannesh Rajah
Lyra ā Alison Millar, Jackie Doyle
Occupied City ā Steve Mcqueen, Bianca Stitger, Floor Onrust, Anna Smith-Tenser
Breakthrough Performance
Le’Shantey Bonsu ā Girl
Lola Campbell ā Scrapper
Priya Kansara ā Polite Society
Mia McKenna-Bruce ā How To Have Sex
Vivian Oparah ā Rye Lane
Best Debut Screenwriter
Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia ā Rye Lane
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping ā Femme
Molly Manning Walker ā How To Have Sex
Nida Manzoor ā Polite Society
Charlotte Regan ā Scrapper
The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)
Raine Allen-Miller ā Rye Lane
Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping ā Femme
Savanah Leaf ā Earth Mama
Molly Manning Walker ā How To Have Sex
Charlotte Regan ā Scrapper
Breakthrough Producer
Theo Barrowclough ā Scrapper
Georgia Goggin ā Pretty Red Dress
Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo ā Rye Lane
[Also Produced By Damian Jones]
Gannesh Rajah ā If The Streets Were On Fire
Chi Thai ā Raging Grace
Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary
Chloe Abrahams ā The Taste Of Mango
Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn ā Another Body
Ella Glendining ā Is There Anybody Out There?
Alice Russell ā If The Streets Were On Fire
Christopher Sharp ā Bobi Wine: The People’s President [Also Directed By Moses Bwayo]
The Raindance Maverick Award
If The Streets Were On Fire ā Alice Russell, Gannesh Rajah
Is There Anybody Out There? ā Ella Glendining, Janine Marmot
Name Me Lawand ā Edward Lovelace
Raging Grace ā Paris Zarcilla, Chi Thai
Red Herring ā Kit Vincent, Ed Owles
Best British Short Film
Christopher At Sea ā Tom C J Brown, Laure Desmazières, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron, Amanda Miller, Hannah Stolarski, Nick Read, Emily-Jane Brown
Festival Of Slaps ā Abdou Cissé, Cheri Darbon, George Telfer
Lions ā Beru Tessema, Ama Ampadu
Muna ā Warda Mohamed, Angela Moneke, Simon Hatton
The Talent ā Thomas May Bailey, Emma D’arcy, Ellen Spence
Best International Independent Film
Anatomy Of A Fall ā Justine Triet, Arthur Harari, Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion
Fallen Leaves ā Aki Kauriskmäki
Fremont ā Babak Jalali, Carolina Cavalli, Marjaneh Moghimi, Sudnya Shroff, Rachael Fung
Monster ā Hirokazu Kore-eda, Yuji Sakamoto, Genki Kawamura, Kenji Yamada
Past Lives ā Celine Song, David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler
Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film
Stephen Graham
Special jury prize
We Are Parable
BIFA 2023 craft winners (previously announced)
Best casting – Isabella Odoffin for How To Have Sex
Best cinematography – Jamie D. Ramsay for All Of Us Strangers
Best costume design – Buki Ebiesuwa for Femme
Best editing – Jonathan Alberts for All Of Us Strangers
Best effects – Jonathan Gales, Richard Baker for The Kitchen
Best music supervision – Connie Farr for All Of Us Strangers
Best make-up and hair design – Marie Deehan for Femme
Best original music – Kwes for Rye Lane
Best production design – Nathan Parker for The Kitchen
Best sound – Mark Jenkin for Enys Men