Dame Judi Dench and Stephen Graham among nominees at British Independent Film Awards
Dame Judi Dench and Stephen Graham are among the big name nominees at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).
Dame Judi has been given the nod for her supporting role in Belfast – Sir Kenneth Branagh’s autobiographical film about his childhood in Northern Ireland, which leads the awards with 11 nominations.
She’s joined by Caitriona Balfe, who is nominated for best actress, Ciaran Hinds for best supporting actor and youngster Jude Hill, who gets a nod for breakthrough performance.
Dame Judi Dench stars in Sir Kenneth Branagh’s latest film. Pic: Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP
Stephen Graham gets recognition for his role in the one-shot film Boiling Point, also with 11 nominations, where he plays a chef.
Ray Panthaki, Vinette Robinson and Lauryn Ajufo are also up for nominations for their roles in the film.
Director Philip Barantini told Sky News the film “took a lot of planning and a lot of blood, sweat and tears” to make, adding that they shot the film four times over.
Paying tribute to leading man Stephen Graham, Barantini added: “He’s amazing… because he’s so passionate and doesn’t put himself above anybody.
“So we come in, he doesn’t want a trailer, he doesn’t want special treatment over anybody else – he wants to be on the same level.
“For our film, it was a team effort, it’s an ensemble piece, and so he was a huge advocate of that.”
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Lauryn Ajufo, who is nominated for breakthrough performance, told Sky News that the film is “epic” and was “very daunting at first”.
Ajufo added: “You got used to it at times and it was a lot of fun and everyone was super, super supportive.”
Boiling Point goes up against Ali & Ava, After Love, The Nest and The Souvenir Part II in the best independent British film category.
Belfast’s Balfe goes up against Carrie Coon for The Nest, Claire Rushbrook for Ali & Ava, Joanna Scanlan for After Love and Ruth Wilson for True Things for the best actress prize, while Boiling Point’s Graham competes with Riz Ahmed for Encounter, Adeel Akhtar for Ali & Ava, Jude Law for The Nest and James Norton for Nowhere Special for the best actor trophy.
Also bagging several nominations was Films After Love, Censor and The Souvenir Part II – all scoring nine nods each.
The awards were read out at the Curzon Soho cinema in central London by Sex Education star Mimi Keene and previous winner Samuel Adewunmi.
He told Sky News that independent films should be celebrated, describing them as the “heartbeat of British cinema”.
“We’ve got to keep pushing it, we’ve got to keep supporting it, we’ve got to keep making sure that we encourage people to go to the cinemas to see these because that’s that’s what matters the most.”
The winners will be announced at a ceremony on 5 December, while the winners of the technical prizes will be announced on 19 November.
Entertainment
Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it’s ‘an underdog just like me’
Police are taking no further action over Kneecap’s performance at Glastonbury.
Officers said they had investigated “comments about a forthcoming court case made during Kneecap’s performance” at the festival on 28 June.
However, after Crown Prosecution Service advice, they decided there is not enough evidence “to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.
The Avon & Somerset force started investigating the Irish group’s show last month, as well as comments by punk-rap duo Bob Vylan.
It said they were looking at a possible public order incident.
Police said on Friday that the investigation into Bob Vylan’s performance was ongoing.
The London duo were widely criticised – and caused a BBC crisis – after leading on-stage chants of “death to the IDF” (Israel Defence Forces).
Kneecap’s Liam Og O Hannaidh appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June. Pic: PA
Kneecap posted a photograph on Instagram, which the group said was an email from police announcing the case was being dropped.
They said their packed Glastonbury gig was a “celebration of love and solidarity” and reporting used “wildly misleading headlines”.
Fears over what Kneecap might do or say during the performance had prompted the BBC not to show it live.
The group said: “Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close… yet the police saw fit to publicly announce they were opening an investigation.”
“There is no public apology, they don’t send this to media or post it on police accounts,” they added.
The police statement on Friday said they had informed Kneecap of their decision to drop the case.
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One of the group’s members appeared in court in June charged with a terror offence.
Liam Og O hAnnaidh is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation in the UK, at a gig last year.
He was released on unconditional bail ahead of a second court appearance in August.
Entertainment
Tomorrowland: ‘Devastating’ blaze destroys main stage at major festival – two days before it was due to begin
A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.
Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.
Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.
The fire gutted the main stage
Fire crews attempt to bring the blaze under control
The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.
It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.
Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.
Black smoke could be seen rising into the sky
The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.
The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.
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Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.
“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told reporters ‘a lot of people are devastated’
Despite the fire, Tomorrowland organisers said they were still expecting 38,000 festivalgoers at DreamVille, the event’s campsite.
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