Film - The BIFA Awards 2015 Winners

The British Independent Film Award winners for 2015 were announced last night ...

The 18th BIFA ceremony, which was hosted by Richard Ayoade, was held at Old Billingsgate in London yesterday evening.

Ex Machina was the big winner with four awards: Best British Independent Film, Best Director and Best Screenplayfor Alex Garland and Outstanding Achievement in Craft for its Visual Effects, by Andrew Whitehurst. It will be screened in 74 cinemas across the country on Sunday 13 December as part of a landmark BIFA screening series supported by the BFI and tickets can be booked at discover.bifa.film

Performance awards were spread across the board: Saoirse Ronan picked up Best Actress for Brooklyn and Tom Hardy won Best Actor for his dual role as Ronnie and Reggie Kray in Legend.

Olivia Colman won her third BIFA for her Best Supporting Actress performance in The Lobster and Brendan Gleeson made it two years in a row, winning Best Supporting Actor for Suffragette this year after taking away Best Actor for Calvary last year.

Colin Farrell presented the Most Promising Newcomer award to Abigail Hardingham for her breakthrough performance in Nina Forever.

The Special Jury Prize was presented posthumously to Chris Collins, the BFI executive who died late last year. Director of the BFI Lottery Film Fund Ben Roberts said, “This is a really wonderful tribute to Chris. He is greatly missed, but his contribution to so many films and filmmakers continues to burn brightly. A heartfelt thanks to the BIFA jury.”

In the closely-fought Best Documentary category, Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance won out over Amy, How to Change the World, Palio and A Syrian Love Story.

Room was named Best International Independent Film and Jacob Tremblay, the young star of the film, collected the award with the team.

The team behind Kajaki: The True Story took home Producer of the Year and Stephen Fingleton was named Best Debut Director for The Survivalist. The award is presented in honour of director Douglas Hickox.

Edmond won Best Short and The Discovery Award went to Orion: The Man Who Would Be King.

The Variety Award, which recognises a director, actor, writer or producer who has made a global impact and helped to focus the international spotlight on the UK, was presented to Kate Winslet. The Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution by an Actor to British Film was presented to Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Laurence Green, chairman of the BIFA Board, said, “As part of our mission to build the widest audience we can for British independent film, it is BIFA's great honour to celebrate the cream of the crop once a year at the Moët British Independent Film Awards. This year's winners speak volumes, not just for their excellence but also for the undimmed ambition and beautiful diversity of the stories they tell.”

Julie Nollet, Marketing & Communications Director at Moët Hennessy UK Ltd, commented “As a longtime supporter of British film, Moët & Chandon is delighted to celebrate tonight's very well deserved winners, including Ex Machina for Best British Independent Film – sponsored by Moët & Chandon. Guests joined us in pouring Moët & Chandon Champagne into a giant Champagne pyramid to toast a year of amazing film achievements.”

The full list of nominations and winners (in bold) is below:

BEST ACTOR

Tom Hardy for Legend

Tom Courtenay for 45 Years
Tom Hiddleston for High-Rise
Michael Fassbender for Macbeth
Colin Farrell for The Lobster

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Brendan Gleeson for Suffragette

Domhnall Gleeson for Brooklyn
Luke Evans for High-Rise
Sean Harris for Macbeth
Ben Whishaw for The Lobster

BEST ACTRESS

Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn

Charlotte Rampling for 45 Years
Marion Cotillard for Macbeth
Carey Mulligan for Suffragette
Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Olivia Colman for The Lobster

Julie Walters for Brooklyn
Sienna Miller for High-Rise
Anne Marie Duff for Suffragette
Helena Bonham Carter for Suffragette

BEST DIRECTOR

Alex Garland for Ex Machina

Andrew Haigh for 45 Years
Asif Kapadia for Amy
Justin Kurzel for Macbeth
Yorgos Lanthimos for The Lobster

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance

A Syrian Love Story
Amy
How to Change the World
Palio

THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD FOR DEBUT DIRECTOR

Stephen Fingleton for The Survivalist

Paul Katis for Kajaki: The True Story
Chris Blaine and Ben Blaine for Nina Forever
John Maclean for Slow West
Corin Hardy for The Hallow

BEST SCREENPLAY

Alex Garland for Ex Machina

Andrew Haigh for 45 Years
Nick Hornby for Brooklyn
Amy Jump for High-Rise
Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou for The Lobster

BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM

Ex Machina

45 Years
Amy
Macbeth
The Lobster

MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER

Abigail Hardingham for Nina Forever

Bel Powley for A Royal Night Out
Milo Parker for Mr Holmes
Agyness Deyn for Sunset Song
Mia Goth for The Survivalist

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR

Kajaki: The True Story

45 Years
Amy
The Lobster
The Violators

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN CRAFT

Andrew Whitehurst for Ex Machina

Chris King for Amy
Fiona Weir for Brooklyn
Mark Digby for Ex Machina
Adam Arkapaw for Macbeth

THE DISCOVERY AWARD

Orion: The Man Who Would Be King

Aaaaaaaah!
Burn Burn Burn
The Return
Winter

BEST BRITISH SHORT

Edmond

Balcony
Crack
Love Is Blind
MANoMAN

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM

Room

Carol
Force Majeure
Girlhood
Son of Saul

THE VARIETY AWARD

Kate Winslet

THE RICHARD HARRIS AWARD

Chiwetel Ejiofor

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE

Chris Collins

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