Ruby Stokes, Anastasia Dymitrow, Kosar Ali, Bukky Bakray, Tawheda Begum and Afi Okaidja in 'Rocks'. Courtesy Fable Pictures
Ruby Stokes, Anastasia Dymitrow, Kosar Ali, Bukky Bakray, Tawheda Begum and Afi Okaidja in 'Rocks'. Courtesy Fable Pictures
Ruby Stokes, Anastasia Dymitrow, Kosar Ali, Bukky Bakray, Tawheda Begum and Afi Okaidja in 'Rocks'. Courtesy Fable Pictures
Ruby Stokes, Anastasia Dymitrow, Kosar Ali, Bukky Bakray, Tawheda Begum and Afi Okaidja in 'Rocks'. Courtesy Fable Pictures

British Independent Film Awards: 'Rocks', Riz Ahmed and 'Limbo' among winners


Farah Andrews
  • English
  • Arabic

The British Independent Film Awards (Bifa) took place on Thursday, recognising the industry's best pictures and actors from 2020.

Harry Potter's Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy, presented the awards, with winners accepting the gongs from the comfort of their own homes.

The ceremony was available to livestream on Facebook and YouTube.

'Harry Potter' star Tom Felton presented the 2020 British Independent Film Awards. Courtesy Bifa
'Harry Potter' star Tom Felton presented the 2020 British Independent Film Awards. Courtesy Bifa

Rocks, starring Bukky Bakray, Kosar Ali and D'angelou Osei Kissiedu, won Best British Independent Film. The coming-of-age movie is about a teenage girl, Rocks (Bakray), who finds herself struggling to take care of herself and her younger brother, Emmanuel (Osei Kissiedu), when they are abandoned by their mother and forced to live on the streets.

The film also picked up the Best Casting award, and three actor awards: Ali was named Most Promising Newcomer and Best Supporting Actress, and Osei Kissiedu won Best Supporting Actor.

Another big winner on the night was Riz Ahmed. The British-Pakistani rapper and actor won Best British Short Film for The Long Goodbye, and Best Debut Screenwriter and Best Music for his film Mogul Mowgli.

Ahmed said on Twitter that he was "grateful for our wins", sharing a photo of himself dressed for an awards ceremony in his home.

His House, a Netflix film about a refugee couple who escape war-torn South Sudan and struggle to adjust to their new life in an English town, took home four awards for Best Director, Best Actress for Wunmi Mosaku, Best Production Design and Best Effects.

Limbo, a film with that shares themes with His House, won the Breakthrough Producer award for Irune Gurtubai. The film stars Egyptian-British actor Amir El-Masry as Omar, a promising young musician and one of four Syrian asylum seekers on a remote Scotland island who enrol in cultural awareness classes while they wait for their application for political asylum to be processed.

El-Masry was nominated for Best Actor but lost out to The Father's Anthony Hopkins.

The Father, which stars Olivia Colman opposite Hopkins, also won Best Screenplay and Best Editing.

To round off the evening, Perfect 10 won the Raindance Discovery Award, and Best Documentary and Best Sound awards went to The Reason I Jump.

Frances McDormand's Nomadland won Best International Independent Film; Saint Maud won Best Cinematography and the Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director for Rose Glass; and Misbehaviour, which stars Keira Knightley and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, won Best Costume Design and Best Make-Up & Hair Design.

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Company name: Nestrom

Started: 2017

Co-founders: Yousef Wadi, Kanaan Manasrah and Shadi Shalabi

Based: Jordan

Sector: Technology

Initial investment: Close to $100,000

Investors: Propeller, 500 Startups, Wamda Capital, Agrimatico, Techstars and some angel investors

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West Ham United 2 Newcastle United 0

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Fulham 1 Chelsea 2

Everton 0 Liverpool 0

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