Fund contributors receive record BIFA nominations

Sixteen productions that contributed to the ScreenSkills Film Skills Fund have received nominations for this years British Independent Film Awards (BIFA). Among them, the titles have a combined total of 93 nominations with all five films in the Best British Independent Film category having contributed to the Fund.

Rye Lane received the most nominations with 16, followed by Charlotte Regan’s debut, Scrapper, and Andrew Haigh’s All of Us Strangers, starring Paul Mescal and Andrew Scott, with 14. How to Have Sex, a winner at this year’s Cannes Film Festival received 14 nominations, while thriller, Femme received 11.

The same five titles will compete for thee of the main awards on the night with the Best British Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay categories all seeing the quintet go head-to-head.

Five of the six nominations in the Best Leading Performance category also come from contributing productions with Jodie Comer picking up one of nine nominations for The End We Start From for her performance of a mother navigating her survival in an apocalyptic crisis. She will face competition from Tilda Swinton for her turn in Joanna Hogg’s The Eternal Daughter, Nabhaan Rizwaan for his work in In Camera, Andrew Scott for All of Us Strangers and Mia McKenna-Bruce for her breakthrough performance in How to Have Sex.

In addition to contributing to the Fund, ten of the nominated films welcomed trainees onto production from ScreenSkills' flagship new entrant programme, Film Trainee Finder, with 48 candidates receiving paid placements across a range of behind the camera roles.

There were placements too for two members of ScreenSkills’ Film Forward programme. The inclusion initiative, funded by the Film Skills Fund, pairs experienced professionals from minority ethnic backgrounds with productions to gain experience in a more senior position and aid their career progression.

We congratulate each of the nominated productions and thank them for their contribution to the Film Skills Fund.

The nominated films are:  

• Rye Lane – 16 nominations
• Scrapper – 14 nominations
• All of us Strangers – 14 nominations
• How to Have Sex – 13 nominations
• Femme – 11 nominations
• The End We Start From – 9 nominations
• If the Streets Were on Fire – 4 nominations
• In Camera – 2 nominations
• Raging Grace – 2 nominations
• Girl – 2 nominations
• Pretty Red Dress – 2 nominations
• Is There Anybody Out There – 2 nominations
• Name Me Lawand – 1 nomination
• Red Herring – 1 nomination
• The Eternal Daughter – 1 nomination
• The Taste of Mango – 1 nomination