'Kneecap', 'Civil War'

Source: Curzon/A24

‘Kneecap’, ‘Civil War’

The British Independent Film Awards (Bifa) has unveiled the winners in its 10 craft categories, with Kneecap securing four awards and Civil War walking away with two. 

Rich Peppiatt’s Irish-language comedy following the eponymous west Belfast hip-hop trio and their mission to save their mother tongue leads this year’s Bifa nominations with 14. So far, Kneecap has won in casting for Carla Stronge, editing for Julian Ulrichs and Chris Gill, original music for Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante and music supervision for Chris Welch and Jeanette Rehnstrom.

Scroll down for the full list of craft winners

Alex Garland’s imagining of a dystopian near-future America, Civil War has won in the effects category for David Simpson – his second Bifa win after 2022’s Men, also directed by Garland. The SXSW premiere, which shot in Georgia in the US with post in the UK, stars Kirsten Dunst and Wagner Moura, and also won best sound for Glenn Freemantle, Mary H Ellis and Howard Bargroff.

Ben Fordesman has picked up his second Bifa, for cinematography in Rose Glass’s Love Lies Bleeding, after securing his first for Glass’s debut, Saint Maud. Sundance premiere Love Lies Bleeding, a 1980s New Mexico-set noir starring Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian, has 12 nominations.

Costume design goes to Michael O’Connor for Cannes title Firebrand, the drama of Henry VIII’s sixth and final wife Katherine Parr’s fight for survival in blood-soaked Tudor England, with a cast including Alicia Vikander and Jude Law. O’Connor has previously been Bifa-nominated for his work on The Duchess, Ammonite and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain.

The winners in all remaining categories will be announced at the 27th Bifa ceremony on December 8 at London’s The Roundhouse.

Bifa craft winners 2024

Casting – Carla Stronge, Kneecap

Cinematography – Ben Fordesman, Love Lies Bleeding

Costume design – Michael O’Connor, Firebrand

Editing – Julian Ulrichs and Chris Gill, Kneecap

Effects – David Simpson, Civil War

Music supervision – Chris Welch and Jeanette Rehnstrom, Kneecap

Make-up & hair design – Lisa Mustafa, Unicorns

Original music – Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, Kneecap

Production design – Jan Houllevigue, The Assessment

Sound – Glenn Freemantle, Mary H Ellis and Howard Bargroff, Civil War