#British Independent Film Awards: ‘Rye Lane,’ ‘Scrapper,’ ‘All of Us Strangers’ Lead Nominations

The British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) nominations were unveiled Thursday morninh by star hosts Susan Wokoma and Morfydd Clark at One Hundred Shoreditch, London. 

“Casting a spotlight on the incredible talent working in the British film industry, this year’s list once again includes exceptional debuts from the U.K.’s brightest new talent alongside previous BIFA nominees, such as Tilda Swinton, Paul Mescal, Jamie Bell and Amir El-Masr,” the organization said.

Leading the nominations with 16 is Rye Lane, Raine Allen-Miller’s London-set romantic comedy following a pair of semi-reluctant lovers on an impromptu tour of Peckham. Among others, it scores nominations for Allen-Miller for best director and best debut director, best screenplay debut screenwriter for writing duo Nathan Bryon and Tom Melia, as well as a best joint lead performance nom for stars Vivian Oparah and David Jonsson. Oparah is also nominated in the breakthrough performance category. Rye Lane is also in the running for Best British Independent Film and eight craft categories.

Scrapper, the uplifting story of a grieving young girl as she negotiates the reappearance of an absent father she doesn’t want, but just might need, received 14 nominations overall. That includes four for debut feature filmmaker Charlotte Regan: best director, best screenplay, best debut director and best debut screenwriter, but also for best British independent film. The film also earned noms for best joint lead performance for stars Harris Dickinson and Lola Campbell, who also scored a nod in the breakthrough performance category.

BIFA veteran Andrew Haigh returns with All of Us Strangers, an unsettling tale of a writer drawn back to his past and towards a mysterious new relationship, which also received 14 nominations. They include best director, best screenplay for Haigh and best British independent film. In the performance categories Andrew Scott picked up a best lead performance nomination, while Jamie Bell, Claire Foy and Paul Mescal grabbed best supporting performance nods. 

Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature, How to Have Sex, earned 13 nominations, while Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s debut feature Femme 11, and Mahalia Belo’s debut feature The End We Start From nine.

Check out the full lists of nominations below.

The Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film

To be announced

Best British Independent Film

ALL OF US STRANGERS Andrew Haigh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Sarah Harvey

FEMME Sam H Freeman, Ng Choon Ping, Myles Payne, Sam Ritzenberg

HOW TO HAVE SEX Molly Manning Walker, Ivana MacKinnon, Emily Leo, Konstantinos Kontovrakis

RYE LANE Raine Allen-Miller, Nathan Bryon, Tom Melia, Yvonne Isimeme Ibazebo, Damian Jones

SCRAPPER Charlotte Regan, Theo Barrowclough

Best International Independent Film, sponsored by Champagne Taittinger

ANATOMY OF A FALL Justine Triet, Arthur Harari, Marie-Ange Luciani, David Thion

FALLEN LEAVES Aki Kauriskmäki

FREMONT Babak Jalali, Carolina Cavalli, Marjaneh Moghimi, Sudnya Shroff, Rachael Fung

MONSTER Hirokazu Kore-Eda, Yuji Sakamoto, Genki Kawamura, Kenji Yamada

PAST LIVES Celine Song, David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler

Best Director, sponsored by Sky Cinema R

AINE ALLEN-MILLER Rye Lane

SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme

ANDREW HAIGH All of Us Strangers

MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex

CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper  

Best Lead Performance

JODIE COMER The End We Start From

MIA MCKENNA-BRUCE How to Have Sex

TIA NOMORE Earth Mama

NABHAAN RIZWAN In Camera

ANDREW SCOTT All of Us Strangers

TILDA SWINTON The Eternal Daughter  

Best Screenplay, sponsored by Apple Original Films
NATHAN BRYON, TOM MELIA Rye Lane

SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme

ANDREW HAIGH All of Us Strangers

MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex

CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper  

Best Supporting Performance

RITU ARYA Polite Society

JAMIE BELL All of Us Strangers

SAMUEL BOTTOMLEY How to Have Sex

ALEXANDRA BURKE Pretty Red Dress

AMIR EL-MASRY In Camera

CLAIRE FOY All of Us Strangers

PAUL MESCAL All of Us Strangers

ALIA SHAWKAT Drift

SHAUN THOMAS How to Have Sex

KATHERINE WATERSON The End We Start From

Best Joint Lead Performance

LOLA CAMPBELL, HARRIS DICKINSON Scrapper

DAVID JONSSON, VIVIAN OPARAH Rye Lane

NATHAN STEWART-JARRETT, GEORGE MACKAY Femme

The Douglas Hickox Award (for best debut director), sponsored by BBC Film

RAINE ALLEN-MILLER Rye Lane

SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme

SAVANAH LEAF Earth Mama

MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex

CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper

Breakthrough Producer, sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios

THEO BARROWCLOUGH Scrapper GEORGIA GOGGIN Pretty Red Dress

YVONNE ISIMEME IBAZEBO Rye Lane [also produced by Damian Jones]

GANNESH RAJAH If the Streets Were on Fire

CHI THAI Raging Grace  

Breakthrough Performance, sponsored by Netflix

LE’SHANTEY BONSU Girl

LOLA CAMPBELL Scrapper

PRIYA KANSARA Polite Society

MIA MCKENNA-BRUCE How to Have Sex

VIVIAN OPARAH Rye Lane

Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary

CHLOE ABRAHAMS The Taste of Mango

SOPHIE COMPTON, REUBEN HAMLYN Another Body

ELLA GLENDINING Is There Anybody Out There?

ALICE RUSSELL If the Streets Were on Fire

CHRISTOPHER SHARP Bobi Wine: The People’s President [also directed by Moses Bwayo]

Best Debut Screenwriter, sponsored by Film4

NATHAN BRYON, TOM MELIA Rye Lane

SAM H FREEMAN, NG CHOON PING Femme

MOLLY MANNING WALKER How to Have Sex

NIDA MANZOOR Polite Society

CHARLOTTE REGAN Scrapper

The Raindance Maverick Award

IF THE STREETS WERE ON FIRE Alice Russell, Gannesh Rajah

IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE? Ella Glendining, Janine Marmot

NAME ME LAWAND Edward Lovelace

RAGING GRACE Paris Zarcilla, Chi Thai

RED HERRING Kit Vincent, Ed Owles

Best Feature Documentary, sponsored by Intermission Film

ANOTHER BODY Sophie Compton, Reuben Hamlyn, Isabel Freeman, Elizabeth Woodward

BOBI WINE: THE PEOPLE’S PRESIDENT Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp, John Battsek

IF THE STREETS WERE ON FIRE Alice Russell, Gannesh Rajah

LYRA Alison Millar, Jackie Doyle

OCCUPIED CITY Steve McQueen, Bianca Stitger, Floor Onrust, Anna Smith-Tenser

Best British Short Film

CHRISTOPHER AT SEA Tom C J Brown, Laure Desmazières, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron, Amanda Miller, Hannah Stolarski, Nick Read, Emily-Jane Brown

FESTIVAL OF SLAPS Abdou Cissé, Cheri Darbon, George Telfer

LIONS Beru Tessema, Ama Ampadu

MUNA Warda Mohamed, Angela Moneke, Simon Hatton

THE TALENT Thomas May Bailey, Emma D’Arcy, Ellen Spence

Best Casting, sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight SHAHEEN BAIG Scrapper KHARMEL COCHRANE Rye Lane KAHLEEN CRAWFORD All of Us Strangers ISABELLA ODOFFIN How to Have Sex SALOME OGGENFUSS, GERALDINE BARÓN, ABBY HARRI Earth Mama	Best Cinematography, sponsored by Harbor & Kodak OLAN COLLARDY Rye Lane SUZIE LAVELLE The End We Start From MOLLY MANNING WALKER Scrapper JAMIE D. RAMSAY All of Us Strangers JAMES RHODES Femme
Best Costume Design GEORGE BUXTON How to Have Sex OLIVER CRONK Scrapper BUKI EBIESUWA Femme CYNTHIA LAWRENCE-JOHN Rye Lane PC WILLIAMS The End We Start From	Best Editing JONATHAN ALBERTS All of Us Strangers VICTORIA BOYDELL Rye Lane PAUL CARLIN Bobi Wine: The People’s President AVDHESH MOHLA High & Low – John Galliano ARTTU SALMI The End We Start From
Best Effects PADDY EASON Polite Society THEODOR FLO-GROENEBOOM The End We Start From JONATHAN GALES, RICHARD BAKER The Kitchen	Best Music Supervision CIARA ELWIS Femme CONNIE FARR All of Us Strangers DAVID FISH Rye Lane
Best Make-Up & Hair Design, sponsored by The Wall Group ZOE CLARE BROWN All of Us Strangers CLAIRE CARTER Polite Society MARIE DEEHAN Femme NATASHA LAWES How to Have Sex BIANCA SIMONE SCOTT Rye Lane	Best Original Music, sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group ADAM JANOTA BZOWSKI Femme PATRICK JONSSON Scrapper KWES Rye Lane ANNA MEREDITH The End We Start From RÉ OLUNUGA Girl
Best Production Design, sponsored by ATC & Broadsword LAURA ELLIS CRICKS The End We Start From SARAH FINLAY All of Us Strangers ELENA MUNTONI Scrapper NATHAN PARKER The Kitchen ANNA RHODES Rye Lane	Best Sound, supported by Halo BEN BAIRD, JACK WENSLEY, ADAM FLETCHER, ALEXEJ MUNGERSDORFF Scrapper STEVE FANAGAN How to Have Sex STEVIE HAYWOOD, JOAKIM SUNDSTRÖM, PER BOSTROM All of Us Strangers MARK JENKIN Enys Men JENS ROSENLUND-PETERSEN, AMY FELTON, JOE JACKSON, TIM CAVAGIN, LORI DOVI The End We Start From