The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports, and promotes British independent cinema and film-making talent in the United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early November, with the ceremony itself taking place in early December.
Nicholas John Frost is an English actor, comedian and screenwriter. He has appeared in the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy of films, consisting of Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World's End (2013), and the television comedy Spaced (1999–2001). He also appeared in Joe Cornish's film Attack the Block (2011). He co-starred in the 2011 film Paul, which he co-wrote with frequent collaborator and friend Simon Pegg. He has also portrayed various roles in the sketch show Man Stroke Woman. In 2020, he cocreated and starred in the paranormal comedy horror series Truth Seekers with Pegg.
Michael Winterbottom is an English film director. He began his career working in British television before moving into features. Three of his films—Welcome to Sarajevo, Wonderland and 24 Hour Party People—have competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He and co-director Mat Whitecross won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the 56th Berlin International Film Festival for their work on The Road to Guantanamo.
Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor is a British actor, screenwriter, and film director. The recipient of various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award and a Laurence Olivier Award in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. In 2008, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the arts. He was elevated to Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2015 Birthday Honours.
Wah-Wah is a 2005 comedy-drama film written and directed by Richard E. Grant in his directorial debut. Loosely based on his childhood in Swaziland, it stars Nicholas Hoult, Gabriel Byrne, Emily Watson, Miranda Richardson and Julie Walters.
The Libertine is a 2005 period drama film, the first film directed by Laurence Dunmore. It was adapted by Stephen Jeffreys from his play of the same name, and stars Johnny Depp and Samantha Morton as John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester and Elizabeth Barry, with John Malkovich, Rosamund Pike, Rupert Friend, and Kelly Reilly in supporting roles. Set in 1675 England, the film chronicles the life of the decadent but brilliant Earl of Rochester, who is asked by King Charles II to write a play celebrating his reign, while simultaneously training Elizabeth Barry to improve her acting.
Kelly Reilly is an English actress. She first appeared on screen in 1995 on the series The Biz. Her other television work includes starring roles in the British crime drama Above Suspicion (2009–2012), the American psychological medical drama Black Box (2014), the American anthology crime drama True Detective (2015) and the historical fantasy drama Britannia (2018). Since 2018, she has played Beth Dutton on the Paramount Network neo-Western drama series Yellowstone, opposite Kevin Costner.
Mrs Henderson Presents is a 2005 biographical musical comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Martin Sherman. It stars Judi Dench, Bob Hoskins, Kelly Reilly, and Will Young. It tells the true story of Laura Henderson, an eccentric British socialite who opened the Windmill Theatre in London in 1931.
A Cock and Bull Story is a 2005 British comedy film directed by Michael Winterbottom. It is a film-within-a-film, featuring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon playing themselves as egotistical actors during the making of a screen adaptation of Laurence Sterne's 18th-century metafictional novel Tristram Shandy. Gillian Anderson and Keeley Hawes also play themselves in addition to their Tristram Shandy roles. Since the book is about a man attempting but failing to write his autobiography, the film takes the form of being about failing to make the film.
The 26th London Film Critics Circle Awards, honouring the best in film for 2005, were announced by the London Film Critics Circle on 8 February 2006.
BBC Film is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It was founded on 18 June 1990, and has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including Truly, Madly, Deeply, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, Quartet, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Saving Mr. Banks, My Week with Marilyn, Eastern Promises, Match Point, Jane Eyre, In the Loop, An Education, StreetDance 3D, Fish Tank, The History Boys, Nativity!, Iris, Notes on a Scandal, Philomena, Stan & Ollie, Man Up, Billy Elliot and Brooklyn.
Chris Laurence is an English musician. Born in London, he studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and primarily works with jazz and classical music. In the classical world he was principal double bass with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields orchestra until 1995, playing on many of their recordings ranging from the film Amadeus to Benjamin Britten's Curlew River. He has recorded with many jazz artists, including trombonist J. J. Johnson, Tony Coe, Joe Williams, Sarah Vaughan, Clark Terry, Johnny Mathis, and Lena Horne. His most recent recordings include John Surman's The Spaces in Between (2007), Kenny Wheeler's The Long Waiting (2012) and Songs for Quintet on ECM Records, and Norma Winstone's Manhattan in the Rain (1998). He has also recorded music for television, film, and albums, most notably Leaving Las Vegas (1995), Ken Loach's Looking for Eric (2009), The Constant Gardener (2005), Howard Shore's score for Hugo (2011), and most recently was featured on the soundtrack of Mike Leigh's Mr. Turner (2014). In 2007, he recorded a CD with his own jazz quartet titled New View, released on the Basho label along with Frank Ricotti (vibes), John Parricelli (guitar), Martin France (drums), and featuring Norma Winstone (vocals).
Tracey Seaward is an English film producer.
William Ellis Porter II is an American actor and singer. Porter gained notice performing on Broadway before starting a solo career as a singer and actor. Porter won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his role as Lola in Kinky Boots. He credits the part for "cracking open" his feminine side to confront toxic masculinity. For the role, Porter also won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.
Kinky Boots is a musical with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and book by Harvey Fierstein.
Kirstin Taylor Maldonado is an American singer-songwriter. She is known for being a vocalist in the a cappella group Pentatonix. With the group, she has released seven studio albums, won three Grammy Awards, and sold over six million albums.
The 67th Annual Tony Awards were held June 9, 2013, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2012–13 season. The ceremony returned to Radio City Music Hall in New York City, after two years at Beacon Theatre, and was broadcast live on CBS television. Neil Patrick Harris hosted for the third consecutive year, his fourth time as host. Awards in four of the eight acting categories, were given to African-American performers. Furthermore, it is the second time in Tony history that both directing prizes went to women. Garry Hynes and Julie Taymor had previously won in 1998. Kinky Boots had a season best 13 nominations and 6 awards. Cyndi Lauper, composer of the score for Kinky Boots, is the first solo female winner for Best Original Score.
Alan MacDonald was a British production designer. He was best known for his work on The Queen (2006), which earned him nominations for the Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film and Best Technical Achievement at the British Independent Film Awards, and for the Rajasthan-set The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012) which earned him a nomination for the Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design for a Contemporary Film.
Mrs Henderson Presents is a musical comedy with music by George Fenton and Simon Chamberlain, with lyrics by Don Black and a book by Terry Johnson. Based on the 2005 film Mrs Henderson Presents, the musical received its world premiere at the Theatre Royal, Bath in 2015 and transferred to the West End's Noël Coward Theatre in February 2016. The film was based on the true story of Laura Henderson and London's Windmill Theatre.
Amanda Jeannette Bridel, known as AJ Bridel, is a Canadian actress and singer. She first rose to prominence as a finalist on Over the Rainbow, where she finished in third-place. Since then, Bridel originated the role of Lauren in the Canadian premiere of Kinky Boots at the Royal Alexandra Theatre and has appeared in several regional productions across Ontario. In 2022, Bridel started voicing the main character Pipp Petals in the My Little Pony series.
