Anton Corbijn's Control was the big winner at tonight's tenth-annual British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs).
Control won Best British Independent Film, Best Director (Anton Corbijn), Best Supporting Actor/Actress (Toby Kebbell), Best Newcomer (Sam Riley), and the Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director (Corbijn).
The film, a black-and-white biopic of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, had led the nominations ahead of the awards with 10 nods. However, And When Did You Last See Your Father' (with seven nominations) and Hallam Foe (six nominations) went home empty handed.
Other winners were Judi Dench for Notes On A Scandal as Best Actress and Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises as Best Actor. Patrick Marber won best screenplay for Notes On A Scandal and Julian Temple's Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten took the Best Documentary award.
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's acclaimed Stasi drama The Lives Of Others won Best Foreign Independent Film.
Still other prizes presented were Best British Short to Dog Altogether directed by Paddy Considine, Best Achievement in Production to Black Gold by Marc & Nick Francis, Best Technical Achievement to Sunshine's Production Designer Mark Tildesley, The Raindance Award to The Inheritance by Charles Henri Belleville, the Richard Harris Award to Ray Winstone, and the Variety Award to Daniel Craig.
The awards, hosted by James Nesbitt at the Roundhouse in London, gave a special jury prize to UK industry veterans Pam Engel and Robert Beeson, who recently left distributor Artificial Eye after many years of service in the UK's art-house world.
Johanna von Fischer and Tessa Collinson, BIFA co-directors, said: 'A decade ago, the need for an awards ceremony that celebrated British independent film talent was identified. We are now ten years on and BIFA has grown to celebrate the increasingly diverse range of talent out there. This year's winners are no exception to this rule with Anton Corbijn winning the Douglas Hickox award and Judi Dench winning Best Actress.'
The BIFAs pre-selection committee viewed more than 150 eligible films. To be considered, a film must be intended for theatrical release and had a public paid screening or UK festival screening between Dec 1 2006 and Nov 30 2007. Films must have been majority co-produced by a British company, British qualifying under DCMS guidelines or have more than half its financing from a British source. Films have to be budgeted under $16m and can't be solely funded by a studio.
Control, which opened Cannes Directors Fortnight, had backers including Northsee Ltd, EM Media, IFF/CINV, 3 Dogs And A Pony Japan, and Warner Music UK; Becker International handled international sales and the UK release was through Momentum.
Control won Best British Independent Film, Best Director (Anton Corbijn), Best Supporting Actor/Actress (Toby Kebbell), Best Newcomer (Sam Riley), and the Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director (Corbijn).
The film, a black-and-white biopic of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis, had led the nominations ahead of the awards with 10 nods. However, And When Did You Last See Your Father' (with seven nominations) and Hallam Foe (six nominations) went home empty handed.
Other winners were Judi Dench for Notes On A Scandal as Best Actress and Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises as Best Actor. Patrick Marber won best screenplay for Notes On A Scandal and Julian Temple's Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten took the Best Documentary award.
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's acclaimed Stasi drama The Lives Of Others won Best Foreign Independent Film.
Still other prizes presented were Best British Short to Dog Altogether directed by Paddy Considine, Best Achievement in Production to Black Gold by Marc & Nick Francis, Best Technical Achievement to Sunshine's Production Designer Mark Tildesley, The Raindance Award to The Inheritance by Charles Henri Belleville, the Richard Harris Award to Ray Winstone, and the Variety Award to Daniel Craig.
The awards, hosted by James Nesbitt at the Roundhouse in London, gave a special jury prize to UK industry veterans Pam Engel and Robert Beeson, who recently left distributor Artificial Eye after many years of service in the UK's art-house world.
Johanna von Fischer and Tessa Collinson, BIFA co-directors, said: 'A decade ago, the need for an awards ceremony that celebrated British independent film talent was identified. We are now ten years on and BIFA has grown to celebrate the increasingly diverse range of talent out there. This year's winners are no exception to this rule with Anton Corbijn winning the Douglas Hickox award and Judi Dench winning Best Actress.'
The BIFAs pre-selection committee viewed more than 150 eligible films. To be considered, a film must be intended for theatrical release and had a public paid screening or UK festival screening between Dec 1 2006 and Nov 30 2007. Films must have been majority co-produced by a British company, British qualifying under DCMS guidelines or have more than half its financing from a British source. Films have to be budgeted under $16m and can't be solely funded by a studio.
Control, which opened Cannes Directors Fortnight, had backers including Northsee Ltd, EM Media, IFF/CINV, 3 Dogs And A Pony Japan, and Warner Music UK; Becker International handled international sales and the UK release was through Momentum.
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