‘Kneecap’ leads nominations for British Independent Film Awards

The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) has announced the nominees ahead of the awards ceremony, which will be held at the Roundhouse, London on 8 December.

In total, 29 British feature films are recognised in the list.

Running away with the nominations is Irish-language rap biopic Kneecap, which picked up nominations for best British independent film, director, and screenplay among others. All three lead performers – Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, JJ Ó Dochartaigh – were also recognised in the nominations.

Rich Peppiatt’s comedy following the semi-true backstory of the titular Belfast hip-hop trio was one of the surprise hits of the year. Kneecap’s Gaelic Irish and English-language music acted as a backdrop for a wider story on Northern Irish-British relations that we called “an absolute blast, a high-energy and frequently hilarious”.

Just behind Kneecap with 12 nominations was the lesbian bodybuilding romance noir Love Lies Bleeding, from director Rose Glass who previously set the BIFA record with 17 nominations for her debut film Saint Maud in 2020, winning in two categories.

Love Lies Bleeding is also nominated for the major awards, including nods to its two central performers, Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brien. We called the unconventional genre-shifting crime-romance film an “electrifying” ride when it debuted at the Berlin Film Festival this year.

Twice this year, Amy Liptrot’s best-selling memoir “The Outrun” has been adapted for British audiences. While the theatrical adaptation was one of the standouts at the Edinburgh International Festival, the film adaptation, featuring Soairse Ronan has also wowed audiences, garnering it nine nominations in the BIFA list.

The Outrun, which claims to be the first major films to be filmed on the Orkney islands, has picked up nominations for Best British independent film, director, screenplay, and a nomination for Ronan’s performance.

Down the list, there are also multiple nominations for Andrea Arnold’s coming-of-age fable Bird, with Nykiya Adams picking up a best breakthrough performance, alongside nominations for her older castmates Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski.

Last year, All of Us Strangerstook home the most awards, including Best British independent film, director, supporting performance and screenplay. Other recognised films included How to Have Sex, Femme, and Rye Lane.

Here are the 2024 nominees in full:

Best British independent film

• Kneecap
• Love Lies Bleeding
• On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
• The Outrun
• Santosh

Best international independent film

• All We Imagine as Light
• Anora
• La Chimera
• No Other Land
• The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Best director

• Andrea Arnold for Bird
• Nora Fingscheidt for The Outrun
• Rose Glass for Love Lies Bleeding
• Rungano Nyoni for On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
• Rich Peppiatt for Kneecap

Best lead performance

• Radhika Apte in Sister Midnight
• Susan Chardy in On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
• Marianne Jean-Baptiste in Hard Truths
• Elliot Page in Close to You
• Saoirse Ronan in The Outrun
• Alicia Vikander in The Assessment

Best screenplay

• Nora Fingscheidt, Amy Liptrot for The Outrun
• Rose Glass, Weronika Tofilska for Love Lies Bleeding
• Rungano Nyoni for On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
• Rich Peppiatt for Kneecap
• Sandhya Suri for Santosh

Best supporting performance

• Michele Austin in Hard Truths
• Elizabeth Chisela in On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
• Barry Keoghan in Bird
• Jack O’Connell in Back to Black
• Franz Rogowski in Bird
• Hayley Squires in Hoard

Best joint lead performance

• Joseph Quinn, Saura Lightfoot-Leon in Hoard
• Katy O’Brian, Kristen Stewart in Love Lies Bleeding
• Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, JJ Ó Dochartaigh in Kneecap
• Jason Patel, Ben Hardy in Unicorns

The Douglas Hickox award for best debut director

• Christopher Andrews for Bring Them Down
• Luna Carmoon for Hoard
• James Krishna Floyd for Unicorns [also directed by Sally El Hosaini]
• Karan Kandhari for Sister Midnight
• Rich Peppiatt for Kneecap

Breakthrough producer award

• Hollie Bryan and Lucy Meer for The Ceremony
• Balthazar De Ganay and James Bowsher for Santosh [also produced by Mike Goodridge and Alan McAlex]
• Jacob Swan Hyam for Bring Them Down [also produced by Julianne Ford, Ivana Mackinnon, Jean-Yves Roubin, Ruth Treacey and Cassandre Warnauts]
• Ben Toye for Treading Water
• Rebecca Wolff for Grand Theft Hamlet [also produced by Julia Ton]

Breakthrough performance award

• Nykiya Adams in Bird
• Susan Chardy in On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
• Saura Lightfoot-Leon in Hoard
• Ruaridh Mollica in Sebastian
• Jason Patel in Unicorns

Best debut screenwriter

• James Krishna Floyd for Unicorns
• Karan Kandhari for Sister Midnight
• Rich Peppiatt for Kneecap
• Sandhya Suri for Santosh
• Mrs & Mr Thomas for The Assessment [also written by John Donnelly]

Best debut director for a feature documentary

• Pinny Grylls, Sam Crane for Grand Theft Hamlet
• Manon Ouimet, Jacob Perlmutter for Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
• Rachel Ramsay for Copa 71 [also directed by James Erskine]
• Clair Titley for The Contestant

Raindance Maverick award

• The Ceremony
• Grand Theft Hamlet
• Restless
• Satu – The Year of the Rabbit
• Witches

Best feature documentary

• The Contestant
• Grand Theft Hamlet
• Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
• Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other
• Witches

Best British short film

• Delivery
• Housewarming
• Meat Puppet
• A Move
• Wander to Wonder

Best casting

• Hoard
• On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
• Bird
• Kneecap
• Love Lies Bleeding

Best cinematography

• Lee
• Love Lies Bleeding
• Civil War
• The Outrun
• Kneecap

Best costume design

• Kneecap
• Civil War
• Love Lies Bleeding
• Unicorns
• Firebrand

Best editing

• The Outrun
• Bird
• Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger
• Civil War
• Kneecap

Best effects

• Love Lies Bleeding
• Lee
• Civil War

Best music supervision

• Back to Black
• Sister Midnight
• Kneecap

Best makeup and hair design

• Love Lies Bleeding
• Back to Black
• The Outrun
• Unicorns
• Firebrand

Best original music

• Kneecap
• Bird
• Unicorns
• The Outrun
• Love Lies Bleeding

Best production design

• Hoard
• Love Lies Bleeding
• The Assessment
• Civil War
• Kneecap

Best sound

• Kneecap
• Love Lies Bleeding
• Civil War
• The Outrun
• Lee