‘Kneecap’, ‘Hoard’ Directors Among Nominees

Rich Peppiatt’s “Kneecap” and Luna Carmoon’s “Hoard” are among the titles in the British Independent Film Awards’ (BIFA) 2024 filmmaker new talent longlists, unveiled Friday. The selections spotlight 31 British features across four debut filmmaking categories, encompassing both fiction and documentary works.

Peppiatt and Carmoon join a group of first-time directors vying for the Douglas Hickox Award, including Amrou Al-Kadhi for “Layla,” Christopher Andrews for “Bring Them Down,” and Daina O Pusić for “Tuesday.” Other contenders in this category are Lucy Cohen with “Edge of Summer,” James Krishna Floyd for “Unicorns,” Stuart Gatt’s “Catching Dust,” Karan Kandhari’s “Sister Midnight,” Jack King’s “The Ceremony,” Rob Morgan’s “Stopmotion,” Sasha Nathwani’s “Last Swim,” and Joshua Trigg’s “Satu – Year of the Rabbit.” The category is sponsored by BBC Film.

The best debut screenwriter category, sponsored by Film4, sees Andrews and Carmoon competing alongside Floyd, Jed Hart for “Restless,” Kandhari, King, Peppiatt, Pusić, Sandhya Suri for “Santosh,” and the writing duo of Mrs & Mr Thomas for “The Assessment.”

David Allen’s “Wilding” and Clair Titley’s “The Contestant” are among the titles recognized in the best debut director – feature documentary category. They’re joined by works from Georgia Bradburn, Lucy Walker, Benjamin Brown, Sam Chown Ahern, and Robin Elliot Knowles for “The Stimming Pool,” Duncan Cowles’ “Silent Men,” Carla J. Easton and Blair Young’s “Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands,” Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane’s “Grand Theft Hamlet,” Manon Ouimet and Jacob Perlmutter’s “Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other,” Rachel Ramsay’s “Copa 71,” and Franc Vissers’ “I’m Still Here.”

The breakthrough producer longlist, sponsored by Pinewood & Shepperton Studios, recognizes talents such as Beth Allan for “Tummy Monster,” Hollie Bryan and Lucy Meer for “The Ceremony,” Mark David for “Catching Dust,” Balthazar de Ganay and James Bowsher for “Santosh,” Robert Ford for “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” Helen Gladders for “Tuesday,” Savannah James-Bayly for “Layla,” Virginia Gilbert and Barry Castagnola for “Reawakening,” John McKay for “Falling Into Place,” Nisha Mullea for “Last Swim,” Jacob Swan Hyam for “Bring Them Down,” Ben Toye for “Treading Water,” Jeremy Warmsley and Chiara Ventura for “Witches,” Chloe White for “The Stimming Pool,” and Rebecca Wolff for “Grand Theft Hamlet.”

BIFA’s announcement follows the release of its 2024 breakthrough performance longlist, which highlights 12 British actors in breakout roles. The organization will reveal the final five nominees in all categories on Nov. 5, with winners to be announced at the awards ceremony on Dec. 8 at London’s Roundhouse.