‘Witches’, ‘Strike: An Uncivil War’ among 13 titles on Bifa Raindance Maverick longlist

By Ben Dalton2024-10-23T09:15:00+01:00

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Source: Ardimages UK / Embankment Films

‘Witches’, ‘Strike: An Uncivil War’

The British Independent Film Awards (Bifa) longlist for the Raindance Maverick award includes documentaries Witches by Elizabeth Sankey and Strike: An Uncivil War by Daniel Gordon.

The 13-strong longlist also includes Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane’s non-fiction title Grand Theft Hamlet, about a staging of Shakespeare’s Hamlet inside the Grand Theft Auto videogame.

Scroll down for the full longlist

Witches examines the relationship between cinematic portrayals of witches and postpartum depression, utilising archival film footage alongside personal testimony. Having been the sole non-fiction title in the UK’s Great 8 showcase at Cannes this year, the film premiered at Tribeca in June, going on to play Rio and London film festivals.

Strike: An Uncivil War uses personal testimony, hidden government documents and unseen archive to shed new light on the UK miners’ strike of 1984-85, with a focus on the Battle of Orgreave. It debuted at Sheffield Doc/Fest in June.

Grand Theft Hamlet has now been selected on four longlists (Debut Director – Feature Documentary; Breakthrough Producer; Documentary; Maverick), as has Jack King’s The Ceremony, (Debut Director; Debut Screenwriter; Breakthrough Producer; Maverick) while Witches is on three (Breakthrough Producer; Documentary; Maverick).

Gino Evans’ addiction drama Treading Water also receives its third longlisting, having previously been selected for Breakthrough Performance for Joe Gill and Breakthrough Producer for Ben Toye.

Neurodivergence documentary The Stimming Pool, created by a collective of neurodivergent filmmakers, also now has three spots, also in Debut Director – Feature Documentary and Breakthrough Producer for Chloe White.

Bifa longlists for breakthrough performance, new talent filmmakers and the documentary and international categories were published across the last week.

The final five nominations in each category will be unveiled on Thursday, November 5; with the winners announced at the Bifa ceremony on Sunday, December 8 at the Camden Roundhouse in London.