‘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