We are proud to have founded BIFA way back in 1998, and are pleased to be the sponsors of the BIFA Discovery Award.
Here are this years nominations. The winner will be announced in a star-studded event in London on Sunday 6 December.
AAAAAAAAH! – Andrew Starke, Steve Oram
Alpha Male, Smith and his Beta, Keith, move to take over a local community where they establish a fragile family unit. The black comedy studies and challenges domestic conventions by capturing the tribe’s rituals, rivalries and rocky history, and questions whether we are men, or simply beasts.
Burn Burn Burn – Chanya Button, Charlie Covell, Daniel-Konrad Cooper and Tim Phillips
Following the death of their friend Dan, Seph and Alex embark on a road trip to spread his ashes. Kept in a tupperware box in the glove compartment, the film shows how one is still ever present after death, combating themes of morbidity with laughter as well as tears with a smart, female-centric spin.
Orion: The Man Who would Be King – Jeanie Finlay
Jimmy Ellis, a singer form Alabama, is cursed with a singing voice identical to Elvis Presley’s. Jeanie Finlay’s tale of the talented singer and his role in the Elvis-is-alive myths is stranger than fiction, as well as being affectingly weird and poignant.
The Return – Oliver Nias
Jack, a small time criminal, returns to London after three years exile in search of his next expedition. After realising his old connections have gone cold, he decides to take it upon himself to try his luck and find a target alone. When the execution of the heist goes wrong, Jack has no choice but to confront the escalating violence he has catalysed.
The Return was screened at Raindance 2015, and was nominated for Best UK Feature.
Winter – Tilly Wood, Paula Crickard, Heidi Greensmith
When Woods loses his wife Marie in tragic circumstances, the successful artist has an emotional breakdown. Woods follows the story of a lovingly devoted Husband and Father, struggling against society with the love of his two sons and the hope of returning into the man he once was.
Winter was screened at Raindance 2015 as part of the festival’s Official Selection.
See here for the full list of nominations at the 2015 BIFA awards.
Photo Credit: Bertie Watson
I founded Raindance Film Festival in 1993 because the British film industry was closed, polite, and congratulating itself while shutting new filmmakers out.
I co-founded the British Independent Film Awards in 1998 because British indie film deserved more than a shrug, a pat on the head, and a Tuesday night screening.
Raindance didn’t start as a brand. It started as a rebellion: film training without gatekeepers, a festival without permission, and a community built by filmmakers who weren’t waiting to be invited in.
Later, we took it global: Toronto, Vancouver, New York, LA, Berlin, and Brussels, because independent film doesn’t belong to one city, one class, or one accent.
I’ve produced 700+ short films and seven features, including Deadly Virtues (2014) and ALICE, which won the SXSW Grand Jury Prize (2019) not because someone “discovered” us, but because the work earned its place.
I’ve written three books used by filmmakers worldwide because too many courses taught compliance instead of survival.
In 2009, I was awarded a PhD for services to film education, ironic, given that most of my career has been about tearing down the rules that education insisted you follow.
I don’t believe in waiting for permission.I believe in making work, building systems, and forcing the industry to catch up.
Specialties: Independent Film (the real kind) · Producing · Writing · Film Education · Festivals · Breaking Broken Systems
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