The British Independent Film Awards 2007
- No Loss of Control
News feature by Joyce Dundas
The British Independent Film Awards were handed out in a suitably indie location of the Roundhouse in Camden on November 28 and the film most tipped for the top also took most of the awards. It seemed fitting that in the home of UK indie music, Camden Town, an indie music film won the most awards. Control, the biopic based on the biography of Joy Division's Ian Curtis written by his widow Deborah was nominated in eight categories and took five of the prizes, including Best British independent film. Former music video director Anton Corbijn took Best Director for his accomplished feature film debut. Fittingly he also won Best Debut Director. The film's star Sam Riley was named Most Promising Newcomer, co-star Toby Kebbell, took Best Supporting Actor. The film has already been widely praised by critics and must now be heading for Oscar success.
The stars were out in force to watch the Best Actor award go to Viggo Mortensen for his outstanding turn in David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises as a Russian gangster based in London, which also stars Naomi Watts and Vincent Cassel. Judi Dench took Best Actress for her frighteningly obsessive character in Notes on a Scandal with Cate Blanchett. Another stalwart of the British film industry how is riding high on the success of Beowulf was also given a special award, the Richard Harris Award, named after another wonderful British actor.
Daniel Craig was given a special award for bringing the British film industry into the spotlight. The award is sponsored by industry trade magazine Variety with the award presented by Variety Intl. director Alberto Lopez.
Patrick Marber as took the Best Screenplay award for his disturbing stalker drama Notes on a Scandal.
The music industry was well represented with Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten taking best documentary.
Documentaries were just as well represented with Black Gold, the labour of love by Marc and Nick Francis took the award for Best Achievement in Production. The film took three years to make and looks at the exploitation in the international coffee industry, from Brazil to Starbucks.
Another moment of poignancy on the evening was as industryites Andi Engel, Pam Engel and Robert Beeson, the founders of arthouse distributor Artificial Eye were awarded with a special jury award sponsored by the UK Film Council. The founder of the extremely well-respected distributor, behind such releases as Shortcuts and Chungking Express, Andi Engel passed away earlier this year. The company was originally founded to release films not in the English language but branched out to other niche markets.
The Best Foreign Independent Film award went to the Oscar winning The Lives of Others.
The awards were the 10th anniversary of the event founded by Raindance, the independent film body based in London, and there was a lively party also at the Roundhouse afterwards. Luckily the music was well praised after such a concentration on the music industry all night.
Johanna von Fischer and Tessa Collinson, BIFA co-directors said that, "A decade ago, the need for an awards ceremony that celebrated British independent film talent was identified. We are now ten years on and BIFA has grown to celebrate the increasingly diverse range of talent out there.
With winners as different as Winstone, Riley and Judi Dench, it would seem that diversity is being well toasted.
Winners in Full (*denotes winner)
BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
And When Did You Last See Your Father?
* Control
Eastern Promises
Hallam Foe
Notes on a Scandal
BEST ACTRESS
Sponsored by Mac
Anne Hathaway - Becoming Jane
Tannishtha Chatterjee - Brick Lane
Sophia Myles - Hallam Foe
Kierston Wareing - It's A Free World...
*Judi Dench - Notes on a Scandal
BEST ACTOR
Jim Broadbent - And When Did You Last See Your Father?
Sam Riley - Control
* Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises
Jamie Bell - Hallam Foe
Cilian Murphy - Sunshine
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR/ACTRESS
Sponsored by Tiscali
Colin Firth - And When Did You Last See Your Father?
Samantha Morton - Control
* Toby Kebbell - Control
Armin Muehler Stahl - Eastern Promises
Cate Blanchett - Notes on a Scandal
MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER
Sponsored by Diesel
Imogen Poots - 28 Weeks Later
Matthew Beard - And When Did You Last See Your Father?
* Sam Riley - Control
Bradley Cole - Exhibit A
Kierston Wareing - It's A Free World...
BEST SCREENPLAY
Sponsored by BBC Films
David Nicholls - And When Did You Last See Your Father?
Matt Greenhalgh - Control
Steven Knight - Eastern Promises
David Mackenzie & Ed Whitmore - Hallam Foe
* Patrick Marber - Notes on a Scandal
BEST DIRECTOR
Sponsored by The Creative Partnership
Anand Tucker - And When Did You Last See Your Father?
Sarah Gavron - Brick Lane
* Anton Corbijn - Control
David Cronenberg - Eastern Promises
David Mackenzie - Hallam Foe
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
* Black Gold
Control
Exhibit A
Extraordinary Rendition
Garbage Warrior
THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD [BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR]
Sponsored by Path
Marc Francis & Nick Francis - Black Gold
* Anton Corbijn - Control
Oliver Hodge - Garbage Warrior
David Schwimmer - Run, Fat Boy, Run
Steve Hudson - True North
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Black Gold
Deep Water
Garbage Warrior
In the Shadow of the Moon
* Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Sponsored by Skillset
* Mark Tildesley - Production design - Sunshine
BEST BRITISH SHORT
Sponsored by Canon
A Bout de Truffe - The Truffle Hunter
Cherries
* Dog Altogether
Girls, The
What Does Your Daddy Do?
BEST FOREIGN INDEPENDENT FEATURE
Black Book
La Vie en Rose
* Lives of Others, The
Once
Tell No One
THE RAINDANCE AWARD
Sponsored by Raindance
Exhibit A
* The Inheritance
Tovarisch: I Am Not Dead
SPECIAL AWARDS
THE RICHARD HARRIS AWARD
Sponsored by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, UK
Ray Winstone
SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
Sponsored by the UK Film Council
Pam Engel, Robert Beeson and Andi Engel
THE VARIETY AWARD
Daniel Craig
Proud supporters and patrons of BIFA include Tilda Swinton, Ray Winstone, Mike Figgis, Tom Hollander, Adrian Lester, Ken Loach, Ewan McGregor, Samantha Morton, Bill Nighy, Trudie Styler, Meera Syal and Michael Winterbottom.
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