British Independent Film Awards: ‘Aftersun,’ ‘Blue Jean’ & ‘The Wonder’ Lead Nominations 

Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells’s debut feature Aftersun leads the nominations for this year’s British Independent Film Awards with a sweeping 16 nods, including Best Director and Best film.

The film’s impressive nominations haul includes Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Debut Director (the Douglas Hickox Award) and Best Debut Screenwriter nods for Wells and a Best Joint Lead Performance nomination for stars Paul Mescal and newcomer Frankie Corio, who received a Breakthrough Performance nomination. The A24 pic is also up for Best British Independent Film and racked up a further nine craft nominations, including Best Casting and Cinematography.

Inspired by, but not based on, Wells’s experiences as the child of young parents, the poignant ’90s-set film explores a father and daughter’s complex relationship against the backdrop of a simmering holiday the pair have taken to a resort in Turkey.

Georgia Oakley’s debut film Blue Jean trails behind with 13 nominations. The soulful social drama about homophobia in Thatcherite Britain picked up Best British Independent Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Debut Director nods alongside a Best Ensemble Performance nomination for the film.

Sebastián Lelio latest pic, The Wonder, racked up 12 noms, including Best Lead Performance for Florence Pugh. Other dominant titles include the Kazuo Ishiguro-penned drama Living, with nine nominations. Peter Strickland’s Flux Gourmet with seven and Men by Alex Garland, The Origin by Andrew Cumming, and God’s Creatures by Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer with five each.

A total of 36 British feature films picked up nominations this year. The Winners will be announced at the BIFA ceremony on Dec 4.

Here’s the list of nominations in full:

Best British Independent Film
AFTERSUN — Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson
BLUE JEAN — Georgia Oakley, Hélène Sifre
GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE — Sophie Hyde, Katy Brand, Debbie Gray, Adrian Politowski
LIVING — Oliver Hermanus, Kazuo Ishiguro, Stephen Woolley, Elizabeth Karlsen
THE WONDER — Sebastián Lelio, Emma Donoghue, Alice Birch, Juliette Howell, Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross, Ed Guiney

Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema
OLIVER HERMANUS — Living
SOPHIE HYDE — Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
SEBASTIÁN LELIO — The Wonder
GEORGIA OAKLEY — Blue Jean
CHARLOTTE WELLS — Aftersun

Best Screenplay
KATY BRAND — Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
KAZUO ISHIGURO — Living
SEBASTIÁN LELIO, ALICE BIRCH, EMMA DONOGHUE — The Wonder
GEORGIA OAKLEY — Blue Jean
CHARLOTTE WELLS — Aftersun

Best Lead Performance
SALLY HAWKINS — The Lost King
COSMO JARVIS — It Is in Us All
EMMA MACKEY — Emily
ROSY McEWEN — Blue Jean
BILL NIGHY — Living
FLORENCE PUGH — The Wonder
EMILY WATSON — God’s Creatures
HALA ZEIN — Nezouh

Best Supporting Performance
ZOEY DEUTCH — The Outfit
AISLING FRANCIOSI — God’s Creatures
LUCY HALLIDAY — Blue Jean
KERRIE HAYES — Blue Jean
ZAINAB JODA — Our River… Our Sky
FATMA MOHAMED — Flux Gourmet
PAUL MESCAL — God’s Creatures
FIONN WHITEHEAD — Emily
AIMEE LOU WOOD — Living

Best Joint Lead Performance
FRANKIE CORIO, PAUL MESCAL — Aftersun
DARYL McCORMACK, EMMA THOMPSON — Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
JESSIE BUCKLEY, RORY KINNEAR — Men
TAMARA LAWRANCE, LETITIA WRIGHT — The Silent Twins

Best Ensemble Performance
BLUE JEAN — Ensemble including Rosy McEwen, Kerrie Hayes, Lucy Halliday, Lydia Page, Stacy Abalogun, Farrah Cave, Amy Booth-Steel

EMILY — Ensemble including Amelia Gething, Emma Mackey, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Fionn Whitehead, Alexandra, Dowling, Gemma Jones, Adrian Dunbar

FLUX GOURMET — Ensemble including Makis Papadimitriou, Gwendoline Christie, Asa Butterfield, Fatma Mohamed, Ariane Labed, Richard Bremmer

OUR RIVER… OUR SKY — Ensemble including Zainab Joda, Darina Al Joundi, Amed Hashimi, Mahmoud Abo Al Abbas, Basim Hajar, Labwa Arab, Meriam Abbas, Siham Mustafa

THE WONDER — Ensemble including Kíla Lord Cassidy, Florence Pugh, Tom Burke, Toby Jones, Niamh Algar, Elaine Cassidy, Ciarán Hinds, Brían F. O’Byrne, Josie Walker

The Douglas Hickox Award
(Best Debut Director)
ANDREW CUMMING — The Origin
THOMAS HARDIMAN — Medusa Deluxe
FRANCES O’CONNOR — Emily
GEORGIA OAKLEY — Blue Jean
CHARLOTTE WELLS — Aftersun

Breakthrough Producer
ALEKSANDRA BILIĆ, JENNIFER CORCORAN — Nascondino [Hide & Seek]PAUL KENNEDY — Nightride [also produced by Jon Silk]RUPERT MAJENDIE — Brian and Charles
NADIRA MURRAY — Winners [also produced by Paul Welsh]HÉLÈNE SIFRE — Blue Jean

Breakthrough Performance
FRANKIE CORIO — Aftersun
LEO LONG — I Used to Be Famous
KÍLA LORD CASSIDY — The Wonder
ROSY McEWEN — Blue Jean
SAFIA OAKLEY-GREEN —The Origin

Best Debut Screenwriter

SHANE CROWLEY — God’s Creatures
DAVID EARL, CHRIS HAYWARD Brian and Charles RUTH GREENBERG — The Origin
GEORGIA OAKLEY — Blue Jean
CHARLOTTE WELLS — Aftersun

Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary
KATHRYN FERGUSON — Nothing Compares
VICTORIA FIORE Nascondino — Hide & Seek
LEAH GORDON, EDDIE HUTTON MILLS — Kanaval
JONO McLEOD — My Old School
BECKY HUTNER — Fashion Reimagined

The Raindance Discovery Award
ELECTRIC MALADY — Marie Lidén, Aimara Reques
FADIA’S TREE — Sarah Beddington, Susan Simnett
OFF THE RAILS — Peter Day, Grant Keir, Rob Alexander
REBELLION — Elena Sánchez Bellot, Maia Kenworthy, Kat Mansoor
WINNERS — Hassan Nazer, Nadira Murray, Paul Welsh

Best Feature Documentary sponsored by Intermission
MY CHILDHOOD, MY COUNTRY – 20 YEARS IN AFGHANISTAN Phil Grabsky, Shoaib Sharifi, Amanda Wilkie
MY OLD SCHOOL — Jono McLeod, John Archer, Olivia Lichtenstein
NASCONDINO [HIDE & SEEK] — Victoria Fiore, Jennifer Corcoran, Aleksandra Bilić
NOTHING COMPARES — Kathryn Ferguson, Eleanor Emptage, Michael Mallie
YOUNG PLATO — Neasa Ní Chianáin, Declan McGrath, David Rane

Best British Short Film
A FOX IN THE NIGHT — Keeran Anwar Blessie, Benjamin Jacob Smith
HONESTY — Roxy Rezvany, Emily Renée, Elly Camisa
SANDSTORM — Seemab Gul, Abid Aziz Merchant
SCALE — Joseph Pierce, Hélène Mitjavile
TOO ROUGH — Sean Lìonadh, Ross McKenzie, Alfredo Covelli

Best International Independent Film sponsored by Champagne Taittinger
ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED — Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov,
CLOSE — Lukas Dhont, Angelo Tijssens, Michiel Dhont, Dirk Impens
DECISION TO LEAVE — Park Chan-Wook, Chung Seo-Kyung
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE — Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Mike Larocca
THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD — Joachim Trier, Eskil Vogt, Andrea Berentsen Ottmar, Thomas
Robsahm

Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society & Spotlight
SHAHEEN BAIG — Blue Jean
LEILA BERTRAND — Our River… Our Sky
KHARMEL COCHRANE — The Silent Twins
KAHLEEN CRAWFORD — Living
LUCY PARDEE — Aftersun

Best Cinematography
NASCONDINO [HIDE & SEEK] — Alfredo de Juan
ROB HARDY — Men
JOEL HONEYWELL — Kanaval
GREGORY OKE — Aftersun
ARI WEGNER — The Wonder

Best Costume Design
JENNY BEAVAN — Mrs Harris Goes to Paris
SAFFRON CULLANE — Flux Gourmet
ODILE DICKS-MIREAUX — The Wonder
FRANK GALLACHER — Aftersun
SANDY POWELL — Living

Best Editing
JOANNA CRICKMAY — Elizabeth: A Portrait in Parts
IZABELLA CURRY — Blue Jean
MÁTYÁS FEKETE — Flux Gourmet
MICK MAHON — Nothing Compares
BLAIR McCLENDON — Aftersun

Best Original Music
DANNY BENSI, SAUNDER JURRIAANS — God’s Creatures
OLIVER COATES — Aftersun
MATTHEW HERBERT — The Wonder
ADAM JANOTA BZOWSKI — The Origin
BEN SALISBURY, GEOFF BARROW — Men

Best Make-Up & Hair Design
OYA AYGÖR, MURAT ÇAĞIN Aftersun MORNA FERGUSON, LORRI ANN KING — The Wonder
SIOBHAN HARPER-RYAN — Flux Gourmet
NIAMH MORRISON — The Origin
EUGENE SOULEIMAN, SCARLETT O’CONNELL — Medusa Deluxe

Best Effects
CHRIS MARSHALL — The Feast
DAVID SIMPSON — Men
AHMED YOUSRY — Nezouh

Best Music Supervision
LUCY BRIGHT — Aftersun
PHIL CANNING — The Phantom of the Open
RUPERT HOLLIER — Living

Best Sound
TIM HARRISON, RAOUL BRAND, CASSANDRA RUTLEDGE — Flux Gourmet
GLENN FREEMANTLE, BEN BARKER, GILLIAN DODDERS, HOWARD BARGOFF, MITCH LOW — Men
JOVAN AJDER — Aftersun
HUGH FOX, BEN BAIRD — The Wonder
DOM CORBISIERO, DAI SHELL — The Feast

Best Production Design
FLETCHER JARVIS — Flux Gourmet
GRANT MONTGOMERY — The Wonder
HELEN SCOTT — Living
BILLUR TURAN — Aftersun
GARY WILLIAMSON — Medusa Deluxe