Andrew Haigh’s reinterpretation of Taichi Yamada’s 1987 novel All of Us Strangers won this year’s British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) on Sunday, taking home seven awards, including Best British Independent Film and Best Director. The Searchlight title, starring Andrew Scott as a screenwriter grappling with the death of his parents, won accolades for its liminal tone and ability to tap into the surreal. It had already won four prizes in the BIFA craft division for editing, cinematography, music supervision, and screenplay. Paul Mescal won the Best Supporting Actor award for his turn as a younger man who begins a relationship with Scott’s character.
BIFA is one of the most prestigious awards ceremonies in the UK and has a long history of championing the next generation of British filmmakers. This year, the likes of Jodie Comer and Celine Song took to the glam red carpet in London for the gala ceremony, as did stars from this year’s most talked-about movies, including Raine Allen-Miller’s whipsmart rom-com refresh Rye Lane, Charlotte Regan’s working-class wonder Scrapper and Molly Manning Walker’s incendiary How To Have Sex.
In a year that saw several high-profile exits from Hollywood, BIFA’s 2023 line-up was dominated by homegrown talent, with the likes of Sam H Freeman and Ng Choon Ping’s “queer noir” Femme and Kibwe Tavares’ dystopian drama The Kitchen receiving plenty of attention. Cannes Palme D’Or and Palme Dog winner Anatomy Of A Fall also received a fair share of nods.
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The winners for the main categories were announced at a glittering ceremony in London on Sunday night. The top prize for a British independent film went to All of Us Strangers, with director and screenwriter Andrew Haigh picking up the best director award. He has won this category for the third time and is only the second person ever to receive it three times.
He won the same award for his previous work, Weekend and 45 Years. All of Us Strangers is a haunting, dreamlike portrait of loneliness, grief, and the eloquent restorative power of human connection. It’s perhaps the most intimate film of his career and was primarily shot in his own childhood home. Haigh and co-writer Emma Freud have tapped into a sense of deep empathy and a keen perceptiveness for dealing with desire, fear, loss, and grief.
Having won four BIFA craft nominations for editing, cinematography, music supervision, and screenplay last month, All of Us Strangers was a major hit in the main competition at Old Billingsgate on Sunday, scooping seven awards. It was also nominated for Best International Independent Film.
Rye Lane, Scrapper, and How To Have Sex also won big in the main categories, with all three winning best British independent film. Other winners include David Jonsson and Vivian Oparah for their film’s music supervision, Buki Ebiesuwa for costume design, and Marie Deehan for makeup and hair.