'Personal History of David Copperfield' Leads the BIFA Nominations

The British Independent Film Awards are the second critics awards to weigh in this year, and they seemed to really love Armando Ianucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield, which isn’t even coming out here in the U.S. until next year. As a fan of his though, I can’t wait to see it. Other big contenders here are Wild Rose, The Souvenir, and notably, Judy, which got five nominations and that’s a good sign for Renee Zellweger’s Oscar campaign. The Best International Feature category is also interesting, with Marriage Story, Parasite and Monos all nominated.

2019 BIFA NOMINATIONS

Best British Independent Film 

• Bait

• For Sama

• The Personal History Of David Copperfield

• The Souvenir

• Wild Rose

Best Director

• Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts, For Sama

• Oliver Hermanus, Moffie

• Joanna Hogg, The Souvenir

• Mark Jenkin, Bait

• Asif Kapadia, Diego Maradona

Best Actress 

• Jessie Buckley, Wild Rose

• Holliday Grainger, Animals

• Sally Hawkins, Eternal Beauty

• Vicky Knight, Dirty God

• Renee Zellweger, Judy

Best Supporting Actress 

• Jessica Barden, Scarborough

• Ruthxjiah Bellenea, The Last Tree

• Elizabeth Debicki, Vita & Virginia

• Tilda Swinton, The Personal History Of David Copperfield

• Julie Walters, Wild Rose

Best Screenplay 

• Joanna Hogg, The Souvenir

• Armando Iannucci, Simon Blackwell, The Personal History Of David Copperfield

• Paul Laverty, Sorry We Missed You

• Peter Strickland, In Fabric

• Nicole Taylor, Wild Rose

Best Actor 

• Sam Adewunmi, The Last Tree

• Tom Burke, The Souvenir

• Kris Hitchen, Sorry We Missed You

• Josh O’Connor, Only You

• Dev Patel, The Personal History Of David Copperfield

Best Supporting Actor 

• Chiwetel Ejiofor, The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind

• Hugh Laurie, The Personal History Of David Copperfield

• Edlison Manuel Olbera Núñez, Yuli – The Carlos Acosta Story

• Peter Mullan, The Vanishing

• Bluey Robinson, Dirty God

The Douglas Hickox Award (Debut Director)

• Will Becher, Richard Phelan, A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

• Fyzal Boulifa, Lynn + Lucy

• Ninian Doff, Boyz In The Wood

• Chiwetel Ejiofor, The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind

• Harry Wootliff, Only You

Debut Screenwriter 

• Kieran Hurley, Beats

• Lisa Owens, Days Of The Bagnold Summer

• Nicole Taylor, Wild Rose

• Emma Jane Unsworth, Animals

• Harry Wootliff, Only You

Best Documentary 

• Coup 53

• Diego Maradona

• For Sama

• Seahorse

• Tell Me Who I Am

Breakthrough Producer 

• Finn Bruce, Tucked

• Kate Byers, Linn Waite, Bait

• Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, Blue Story [Also Produced By Damian Jones]

• Becky Read, Three Identical Strangers [Also Produced By Grace Hughes-Hallett]

• Jack Sidey, Moffie [Also Produced By Eric Abraham]

Most Promising Newcomer 

• Sam Adewumni, The Last Tree

• Vicky Knight, Dirty God

• Lorn Macdonald, Beats

• Roxanne Scrimshaw, Lynn + Lucy

• Honor Swinton Byrne, The Souvenir

Jessie Buckley had a good year, appearing in both Wild Rose and Judy, as well as HBO’s Chernobyl

The Discovery Award 

• A Bump Along The Way, Shelly Love

• Children Of The Snow Land, Zara Balfour, Marcus Stephenson, Mark Hakansson

• Here For Life, Andrea Luka Zimmerman, Adrian Jackson, James Lingwood, Michael Morris, Cressida Day

• Muscle, Gerard Johnson, Matthew James Wilkinson, Richard Wylie, Ed Barratt

• The Street, Zed Nelson

Best British Short Film 

• Anna

• Boiling Point

• The Devil’s Harmony

• Goldfish

• Serious Tingz

Best International Independent Film 

• Ash Is Purest White

• Marriage Story

• Monos

• Parasite

• Portrait Of A Lady On Fire

Best Casting 


• In Fabric

• The Last Tree

• Only You

• Wild Rose

• The Personal History Of David Copperfield

Best Costume Design


• The Personal History Of David Copperfield

• Wild Rose

• The Souvenir

• Judy

• In Fabric

Best Cinematography 

• Judy

• Beats

• The Personal History Of David Copperfield

• Moffie

• In Fabric

Best Editing 


• The Personal History Of David Copperfield

• Bait

• Diego Maradona

• For Sama

• The Souvenir

Best Effects


• A Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

• In Fabric

• The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind

Best Make Up & Hair Design 

• Dirty God

• The Personal History Of David Copperfield

• In Fabric

• Wild Rose

• Judy

Best Music 


• Wild Rose

• In Fabric

  For Sama

• Diego Maradona

• Beats

Best Production Design 

• The Personal History Of David Copperfield

• The Souvenir

• Judy

• The White Crow

• In Fabric

Best Sound 

• Gwen

• Beats

• Diego Maradona

• Wild Rose

• In Fabric

Judy was a British made production and did well at BIFA