Sands film in line for seven awards
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Your support makes all the difference.Hunger, the debut film by artist Steve McQueen about IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, has been nominated for seven British Independent Film Awards.
Turner Prize-winner McQueen's film has more nominations than The Duchess, starring Keira Knightley, and Happy-Go-Lucky, the latest movie from Mike Leigh.
Hunger is up for Best British Independent Film, Director, Debut Director, Screenplay, Actor, Supporting Actor and Technical Achievement.
The awards also see Thomas Turgoose, the teenager who made his name in This Is England, up for Best Actor against established names like Colin Farrell.
Grimsby-born Turgoose, who was plucked from obscurity while hanging out at a youth club just a few years ago, is nominated for his role as a runaway in Somers Town.
The Duchess, based on the biography of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, has four nominations including Best Actress for Knightley.
Sienna Miller is up for Best Supporting Actress for her role opposite Knightley in The Edge of Love, the film based on the two women in poet Dylan Thomas's life.
Happy-Go-Lucky has three nominations, including one for Best Actress for Sally Hawkins, who played the lead role of a school teacher in the film.
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, adapted from John Boyne's best-selling novel set in the Holocaust, is also up for three awards.
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Asa Butterfield, an 11-year-old from Islington, north London, who plays German character Bruno in the film, is nominated for Most Promising Newcomer.
David Thewlis, who stars in the movie, will receive the Richard Harris Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Film.
Ralph Fiennes has two nods for Best Supporting Actor, for his roles in The Duchess and In Bruges.
In Bruges, the story of two hitmen hiding out following a botched job, has seven nominations including Best Actor for its star Farrell.
Emma Thompson is up for Best Supporting Actress for Brideshead Revisited and Samantha Morton is in line for Best Actress for The Daisy Chain.
Michael Sheen, the star of Frost/Nixon, will receive the Variety Award for bringing the international spotlight to the British film industry.
The nominations were selected by a committee of 70 members of the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).
BIFA directors Johanna von Fischer and Tessa Collinson said: "We are delighted to be able to highlight such an eclectic range of new British film talent this year.
"We are also proud to honour two outstanding British acting talents and careers with The Richard Harris and The Variety Awards."
The 11th awards, hosted by John Nesbitt, will take place on November 30 in London.
:: The Nominations
BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
Hunger
In Bruges
Man on Wire
Slumdog Millionaire
Somers Town
BEST DIRECTOR
Mark Herman - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Steve McQueen - Hunger
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Shane Meadows - Somers Town
Garth Jennings - Son of Rambow
THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD (BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR)
James Watkins - Eden Lake
Rupert Wyatt - The Escapist
Steve McQueen - Hunger
Martin McDonagh - In Bruges
Eran Creevy - Shifty
BEST SCREENPLAY
Enda Walsh, Steve McQueen - Hunger
Martin McDonagh - In Bruges
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire
Paul Fraser - Somers Town
Garth Jennings - Son of Rambow
BEST ACTRESS
Vera Farmiga - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Samantha Morton - The Daisy Chain
Keira Knightley - The Duchess
Kelly Reilly - Eden Lake
Sally Hawkins - Happy-Go-Lucky
BEST ACTOR
Michael Fassbender - Hunger
Colin Farrell - In Bruges
Brendan Gleeson - In Bruges
Riz Ahmed - Shifty
Thomas Turgoose - Somers Town
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emma Thompson - Brideshead Revisited
Hayley Atwell - The Duchess
Kristin Scott Thomas - Easy Virtue
Sienna Miller - The Edge of Love
Alexis Zegerman - Happy-Go-Lucky
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ralph Fiennes - The Duchess
Eddie Marsan - Happy-Go-Lucky
Liam Cunningham - Hunger
Ralph Fiennes - In Bruges
Daniel Mays - Shifty
MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER
Asa Butterfield - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Dev Patel - Slumdog Millionaire
Ayush Mahesh Khedekar - Slumdog Millionaire
Bill Milner - Son of Rambow
Will Poulter - Son of Rambow
BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
The Daisy Chain
The Escapist
Hush
Shifty
Telstar
RAINDANCE AWARD
Clubbed
Flick
One Day Removals
Zebra Crossings
BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Wardrobe, The Duchess
Cinematography, Hunger
Editing, In Bruges
Music, Shifty
Cinematography, Slumdog Millionaire
BEST DOCUMENTARY
A Complete History of My Sexual Failures
Derek
Man on Wire
Of Time and The City
Three Miles North of Molkom
BEST BRITISH SHORT
Alex And Her Arse Truck
Gone Fishing
Love Does Grow On Trees
Red Sands
Soft
BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
Gomorrah
I've Loved You So Long
Persepolis
Waltz With Bashir
THE RICHARD HARRIS AWARD (for outstanding contribution to British Film)
David Thewlis
THE VARIETY AWARD
Michael Sheen
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