Kneecap Reigns Supreme At 2024 British Independent Film Awards

In what has been another stellar year for homegrown filmmaking and talent. The brightest and best of British film turned out at iconic venue Roundhouse London, for the 2024 British Independent Film Awards, with Shaun Of The Dead star Peter Serafinowicz on hosting duties.

Not content with taking the music world by storm with their distinctive, unapologetic brand of Northern Irish hip-hop. ‘Kneecap’ consisting of trio Mo Chara, Moglai Bap and DJ Provai, saw their riotous biopic directed by Rich Peppiatt dominate last night’s (Sun 8 Dec) proceedings, taking home an impressive seven awards including Best British Independent Film.

Elsewhere. Strong impressions were also made by the unlikely mix of Grand Theft Auto and a Shakespearean classic, Pinny Grylls/Sam Crane’s surprisingly moving ‘Grand Theft Hamlet’. Alongside I Am Not A Witch director Rungano Nyoni’s latest ‘On Becoming A Guinea Fowl’ and the UK’s Oscar International Feature submission for 2025 ‘Santosh’.

The list of winners can be found below (in bold):

Best British Independent Film – Kneecap | Love Lies Bleeding | On Becoming A Guinea Fowl | The Outrun | Santosh

Best Screenplay – Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt) | Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass/Weronika Tofilska) | On Becoming A Guinea Fowl (Rungano Nyoni) | The Outrun (Nora Fingscheidt/Amy Liptrot) | Santosh (Sandhya Suri)

Best Director – Bird (Andrea Arnold) | Love Lies Bleeding (Rose Glass) | Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt) | On Becoming A Guinea Fowl (Rungano Nyoni) | The Outrun (Nora Finhscheidt)

Best British Short – Delivery (Ben Lankester/Joe Binks/Bophanie Lun) | Housewarming (Liam White/Guy Lindley) | Meat Puppet (Eros Vlahos/Masha Thorpe/Leah Draws) | A Move (Elahe Esmaili/Hossein Behboudi Rad) | Wander To Wonder (Simon Cartwright/Nina Gantz/Stienette Bosklopper/Daan Bakker/Maarten Swart)

Best Lead Performance – Alicia Vikander (The Assessment) | Elliot Page (Close To You) | Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths) | Susan Chardy (On Becoming A Guinea Fowl) | Saoirse Ronan (The Outrun) | Radhika Apte (Sister Midnight)

Best Joint Lead Performance – Joseph Quinn/Saura Lightfoot-Leon (Hoard) | Naoise O Caireallain/Liam OG O Hannaidh/JJ O Dochartaigh (Kneecap) | Kristen Stewart/Katy O’Brian (Love Lies Bleeding) | Ben Hardy/Jason Patel (Unicorns)

Best Supporting Performance – Jack O’Connell (Back To Black) | Barry Keoghan (Bird) | Franz Rogowski (Bird) | Michelle Austin (Hard Truths) | Hayley Squires (Hoard) | Elizabeth Chisela (On Becoming A Guinea Fowl)

Breakthrough Performance – Nykiya Adams (Bird) | Saura Lightfoot-Leon (Hoard) | Susan Chardy (On Becoming A Guinea Fowl) | Ruaridh Mollica (Sebastian) | Jason Patel (Unicorns)

The Raindance Maverick Award – The Ceremony (Jack King/Hollie Bryan/Lucy Meer) | Grand Theft Hamlet (Pinny Grylls/Sam Crane/Rebecca Wolff/Julia Ton) | Restless (Benedict Turnbull/Jed Hart) | Satu – Year Of The Rabbit (Joshua Trigg) | Witches (Elizabeth Sankey/Jeremy Warmsley/Chiara Ventura/Manon Ardisson)

The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) – Bring Them Down (Christopher Andrews) | Hoard (Luna Carmoon) | Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt) | Karan Kandhari (Sister Midnight) | Unicorns (James Krishna Lloyd)

Best Debut Screenwriter – The Assessment (Mr and Mrs Thomas) | Kneecap (Rich Peppiatt) | Santosh (Sandhya Suri) | Sister Midnight (Karan Kandhari) | Unicorns (James Krishna Floyd)

Best Debut Director (Feature Documentary) – The Contestant (Clair Titley) | Copa 71 (Rachel Ramsay) | Grand Theft Hamlet (Sam Crane/Pinny Grylls) | Two Strangers Not Trying To Kill Each Other (Manon Quimet/Jacob Perlmutter)

Breakthrough Producer – Bring Them Down (Jacob Swan Hyam) | The Ceremony (Hollie Bryan/Lucy Meer) | Grand Theft Hamlet (Rebecca Wolff) | Santosh (Balthazar De Ganay/James Bowsher) | Treading Water (Ben Toye)

Best Feature Documentary – The Contestant | Grand Theft Hamlet | Super/Man The Christopher Reeve Story | Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other | Witches

Best International Independent Film – All We Imagine As Light | Anora | La Chimera | No Other Land | The Seed Of The Sacred Fig

Best Casting – Bird (Lucy Pardee) | Hoard (Heather Basten) | Kneecap (Carla Stronge) | Love Lies Bleeding (Mary Vernieu/Lindsay Graham Ahahonu) | On Becoming A Guinea Fowl (Isabella Odoffin)

Best Cinematography – Civil War (Rob Hardy) | Kneecap (Ryan Kernaghan) | Lee (Pawel Edelman) | Love Lies Bleeding (Ben Fordesman) | The Outrun (Yunus Roy Imer

Best Costume Design – Civil War (Meghan Kasperlink) | Firebrand (Michael O’Connor) | Kneecap (Zjena Glamocanin) | Love Lies Bleeding (Olga Mill) | Unicorns (Nirage Mirage)

Best Editing – Bird (Joe Bini) | Civil War (Jake Roberts) | Kneecap (Julian Ulrichs/Chris Gill) | Made In England: The Films Of Powell And Pressburger (Margarida Cartaxo/Stuart Davidson) | The Outrun (Stephen Bechinger)

Best Make-Up And Hair Design – Back To Black (Peta Dunstall) | Firebrand (Jenny Shircore) | Love Lies Bleeding (Megan Daum/Frieda Valenzuela) | The Outrun (Kat Morgan) | Unicorns (Lisa Mustafa)

Best Music Supervision – Back To Black (Iain Cooke/Giles Martin) | Kneecap (Gary Welch/Jeanette Rehnstrom | Sister Midnight (Kle Savidge)

Best Original Music – Bird (Burial) | Kneecap (Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante) | Love Lies Bleeding (Clint Mansell) | The Outrun (John Gurtler/Jan Miserre | Unicorns (Stuart Earl)

Best Production Design – The Assessment (Jan Houllevigue) | Civil War (Caty Maxey) | Hoard (Bobbie Cousins) | Kneecap (Nicola Moroney) | Love Lies Bleeding (Katie Hickman)

Best Sound – Civil War (Glenn Freemantle/Mary H Ellis/Howard Bargroff) | Kneecap (Louise Burton/Brendan Rehill/Aza Hand/Chris Woodcock) | Lee (Mike Prestwood Smith/Csaba Major/Jimmy Boyle) | Love Lies Bleeding (Paul Davies/Andrew Stirk/Linda Forsen/Rose Bladh/Tim Burns) | The Outrun (Dominik Leube/Oscar Stiebitz/Jonathan Schorr/Gregor Bonse)

Best Effects – Civil War (David Simpson) | Lee (Inzo Putze/Glen Mcguigan) | Love Lies Bleeding (James Allen)