2022 British Independent Film Awards – Winners
Debuting screenwriter-director Charlotte Wells and her film Aftersun were the big winners at an evolved 2022 British Independent Film Awards.
Sunday 4th December saw the airing of the Twenty-Fifth British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs). Presented by Ben Bailey Smith in London, the ceremony awarded the very best of British independent film from the past year.
The biggest success of the night was Aftersun, Charlotte Wells’ stunningly poignant debut. Starring Paul Mescal and newcomer Frankie Corio, the drama explores the complex relationship between a daughter and her father whilst on holiday. The film received critical praise, with The Film Magazine giving it a perfect score. Aftersun picked up seven awards, including Best Director and Best British Independent Film, the latter of which was presented by Mescal’s ‘Normal People’ co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones. Aftersun‘s victory here could pave the way for BAFTA success.
2022 also marked the first time the ceremony awarded gender neutral acting awards. Previously, separate awards were given to actors and actresses. These categories were retooled as Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance respectively. The recipients of these awards, Rosy McEwen and Kerrie Hayes, both starred in Blue Jean, Georgia Oakley’s heartbreaking LGBTQ+ drama.
Further new acting categories included Best Joint Lead Performance and Best Ensemble Performance. The former was awarded to Tamara Lawrance and Letitia Wright for their work in The Silent Twins, while the latter was picked up by Our River… Our Sky.
Sinéad O’Connor documentary, Nothing Compares, dominated its field, winning Best Feature Documentary and Best Debut Director for Feature Documentary – which was awarded to Kathryn Ferguson.
Finally, The Worst Person in the World received the award for Best International Independent Film. Joachim Trier’s romantic comedy faced stiff competition from the likes of Everything Everywhere All at Once and Decision to Leave, but was able to come out on top.
The winners of the 2022 British Independent Film Awards:
Best British Independent Film – Aftersun
Blue Jean
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Living
The Wonder
Best Director – Charlotte Wells (Aftersun)
Oliver Hermanus (Living)
Sophie Hyde (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande)
Sebastian Lelio (The Wonder)
Georgia Oakley (Blue Jean)
Best Screenplay – Charlotte Wells (Aftersun)
Katy Brand (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande)
Kazuo Ishiguro (Living)
Sebastian Lelio, Alice Birch, Emma Donoghue (The Wonder)
Georgia Oakley (Blue Jean)
Best Lead Performance – Rosy McEwen (Blue Jean)
Sally Hawkins (The Lost King)
Cosmo Jarvis (It Is in Us All)
Emma Mackey (Emily)
Bill Nighy (Living)
Florence Pugh (The Wonder)
Emily Watson (God’s Creatures)
Hala Zein (Nezouh)
Best Supporting Performance – Kerrie Hayes (Blue Jean)
Zoey Deutch (The Outfit)
Aisling Franciosi (God’s Creatures)
Lucy Halliday (Blue Jean)
Zainab Joda (Our River…Our Sky)
Fatma Mohamed (Flux Gourmet)
Paul Mescal (God’s Creatures)
Fionn Whitehead (Emily)
Aimee Lou Wood (Living)
Best Joint Lead Performance – Tamara Lawrance, Letitia Wright (The Silent Twins)
Frankie Corio, Paul Mescal (Aftersun)
Daryl McCormack, Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande)
Jessie Buckley, Rory Kinnear (Men)
Best Ensemble Performance – Our River…Our Sky
Blue Jean
Emily
Flux Gourmet
The Wonder
Breakthrough Performance – Safia Oakley-Green (The Origin)
Frankie Corio (Aftersun)
Leo Long (I Used to Be Famous)
Kila Lord Cassidy (The Wonder)
Rosy McEwen (Blue Jean)
The Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director – Charlotte Wells (Aftersun)
Andrew Cumming (The Origin)
Thomas Hardiman (Medusa Deluxe)
Frances O’Connor (Emily)
Georgia Oakley (Blue Jean)
Breakthrough Producer – Nadira Murray (Winners)
Aleksandra Bilic, Jennifer Corcoran (Nascondino)
Paul Kennedy (Nightride)
Rupert Majendie (Brian and Charles)
Helene Sifre (Blue Jean)
Best Debut Screenwriter – Georgia Oakley (Blue Jean)
Shane Crowley (God’s Creatures)
David Earl, Chris Hayward (Brian and Charles)
Ruth Greenberg (The Origin)
Charlotte Wells (Aftersun)
Best Debut Director for Feature Documentary – Kathryn Ferguson (Nothing Compares)
Victoria Fiore (Nascondino)
Leah Gordon, Eddie Hutton Mills (Kanaval)
Jono McLeod (My Old School)
Becky Hutner (Fashion Reimagined)
The Raindance Discovery Award – Winners
Electric Malady
Fadia’s Tree
Off the Rails
Rebellion
Best Feature Documentary – Nothing Compares
My Childhood, My Country
My Old School
Nascondino
Young Plato
Best British Short Film – Too Rough
A Fox in The Night
Honesty
Sandstorm
Scale
Best International Independent Film – The Worst Person in The World
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Close
Decision To Leave
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best Casting – Shaheen Baig (Blue Jean)
Leila Bertrand (Our River… Our Sky)
Kharmel Cochrane (The Silent Twins)
Kahleen Crawford (Living)
Lucy Pardee (Aftersun)
Best Cinematography – Gregory Oke (Aftersun)
Alfredo De Juan (Nascondino)
Rob Hardy (Men)
Joel Honeywell (Kanaval)
Ari Wegner (The Wonder)
Best Costume Design – Jenny Beavan (Mrs Harris Goes to Paris)
Saffron Cullane (Flux Gourmet)
Odile Dicks-Mireaux (The Wonder)
Frank Gallacher (Aftersun)
Sandy Powell (Living)
Best Editing – Blair McClendon (Aftersun)
Joanna Crickmay (Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts)
Izabella Curry (Blue Jean)
Matyas Fekete (Flux Gourmet)
Mick Mahon (Nothing Compares)
Best Original Music – Matthew Herbert (The Wonder)
Saunder Jurriaans (God’s Creatures)
Oliver Coates (Aftersun)
Adam Janota Bzowski (The Origin)
Ben Salisbury, Geoff Barrow (Men)
Best Makeup & Hair Design – Eugene Souleiman, Scarlett O’Connell (Medusa Deluxe)
Oya Aygor, Murat Çagin (Aftersun)
Morna Ferguson, Lorri Ann King (The Wonder)
Siobhan Harper-Ryan (Flux Gourmet)
Niamh Morrison (The Origin)
Best Effects – David Simpson (Men)
Chris Marshall (The Feast)
Ahmed Yousry (Nezouh)
Best Music Supervision – Lucy Bright (Aftersun)
Phil Canning (The Phantom of the Open)
Rupert Hollier (Living)
Best Sound – Flux Gormet
Men
Aftersun
The Wonder
The Feast
Best Production Design – Living
Flux Gourmet
The Wonder
Aftersun
Medusa Deluxe
The Richard Harris Award For Outstanding Contribution By An Actor To British Film
Samantha Morton
The Special Jury Prize
Open Door
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