YOUTH WINS BIG AT EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS

Italian director Paolo Sorrentino's Swiss-set film with an English lead, Youth, won top awards at the European Film Awards. Both lead acting winners, including Youth's Michael Caine, were also recipients of special awards, as 45 Years' Charlotte Rampling was honoured both for her performance in Andrew Haigh's film and for her lifetime achievement as an actor. The technical category winners had previously been announced; nominees can be found in full here, and winners in full below:

European Film 2015
Youth (Paolo Sorrentino)

European Director 2015
Paolo Sorrentino (Youth)

European Actor 2015
Michael Caine (Youth)

European Actress 2015
Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)

European Screenwriter 2015
Efthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)

European Cinematographer 2015
Martin Gschlacht (Goodnight Mommy)

European Editor 2015
Jacek Drosio (Body)

European Production Designer 2015
Sylvie Olive (The Brand New Testament)

European Costume Designer 2015
Sarah Blenkinsop (The Lobster)

European Sound Designer 2015
Miguel Martins and Vasco Pimentel (Arabian Nights: Volume 1 - The Restless One / Arabian Nights: Volume 2 - The Desolate One / Arabian Nights: Volume 3 - The Enchanted One)

European Composer 2015
Faris Badwan and Rachel Zeffira (The Duke of Burgundy)

European Animated Feature Film 2015
Song of the Sea (Tomm Moore)

European Documentary 2015
Amy (Asif Kapadia)

European Comedy 2015
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Roy Andersson)

European Co-Production Award 2015
Andrea Occhipinti

FIPRESCI Prize for European Discovery
Mustang (Deniz Gamze Erguven)

European Short Film 2015
Picnic (Jure Pavlovic)

European Achievement in World Cinema Award (Honorary Award)
Christoph Waltz

Honorary Award of the EFA President and Board
Michael Caine

Lifetime Achievement Award
Charlotte Rampling

People's Choice Award
Marshland (Alberto Rodriguez)

2015 BIFA NOMINATIONS - FILM4 BREAKS STUDIO RECORD

In an impressive performance for the British studio, Film4 backed all five of the Best British Independent Film nominees in today's British Independent Film Award nominations - the BIFA's top award. Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos' The Lobster leads among films with seven nominations, followed by Andrew Haigh's 45 Years and Justin Kurzel's Macbeth, both of which earned mentions for their leads in the acting categories. There, BIFA voters righted what is sure to be a slew of wrongs come awards season in December, as they rejected category fraud by recognising Tom Courtenay, Marion Cotillard and Alicia Vikander (for The Danish Girl) in lead. The 2015 BIFAs will be presented at their ceremony on the 6th of December, where Kate Winslet will receive the Variety Award for Global Achievement. All the nominations below:

Best British Independent Film
45 Years
Amy
Ex Machina
The Lobster
Macbeth

Best Director
Alex Garland (Ex Machina)
Andrew Haigh (45 Years)
Asif Kapadia (Amy)
Justin Kurzel (Macbeth)
Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)

Best Actor
Tom Courtenay (45 Years)
Colin Farrell (The Lobster)
Michael Fassbender (Macbeth)
Tom Hardy (Legend)
Tom Hiddleston (High-Rise)

Best Actress
Marion Cotillard (Macbeth)
Carey Mulligan (Suffragette)
Charlotte Rampling (45 Years)
Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn)
Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl)

Best Supporting Actor
Luke Evans (High-Rise)
Brendan Gleeson (Suffragette)
Domhnall Gleeson (Brooklyn)
Sean Harris (Macbeth)
Ben Whishaw (The Lobster)

Best Supporting Actress
Helena Bonham Carter (Suffragette)
Olivia Colman (The Lobster)
Anne-Marie Duff (Suffragette)
Sienna Miller (High-Rise)
Julie Walters (Brooklyn)

Best Screenplay
Efthymis Filippou and Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster)
Alex Garland (Ex Machina)
Andrew Haigh (45 Years)
Nick Hornby (Brooklyn)
Amy Jump (High-Rise)

Best Achievement in Craft
Adam Arkapaw (Macbeth) - cinematography
Mark Digby (Ex Machina) - production design
Chris King (Amy) - editing
Fiona Weir (Brooklyn) - casting
Andrew Whitehurst (Ex Machina) - visual effects

Best Documentary
Amy
Dark Horse
How to Change the World
Palio
A Syrian Love Story

Best Foreign Independent Film
Carol
Force Majeure
Girlhood
Room
Son of Saul

Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director
Ben Blaine and Chris Blaine (Nina Forever)
Corin Hardy (The Hallow)
Paul Katis (Kajaki: The True Story)
John MacLean (Slow West)
Stephen Fingleton (The Survivalist)

Most Promising Newcomer
Agyness Deyn (Sunset Song)
Mia Goth (The Survivalist)
Abigail Hardingham (Nina Forever)
Milo Parker (Mr. Holmes)
Bel Powley (A Royal Night Out)

Raindance Discovery Award
Aaaaaaaah!
Burn Burn Burn
Orion: The Man Who Would Be King
The Return
Winter

Producer of the Year
Andrew de Lotbiniere and Paul Katis (Kajaki: The True Story)
Cecil Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Yorgos Lanthimos and Lee Magiday (The Lobster)
James Gay-Rees (Amy)
Tristan Goligher (45 Years)
David A. Hughes and David Moores (The Violators)

Variety Award
Kate Winslet

Best Short Film
Balcony
Crack
Edmond
Love Is Blind
Manoman

REVIEW - 45 YEARS (ANDREW HAIGH)

45 years, a lifetime even to those some degree past it, reconfigured in under two hours, or in merely one motion. The past does not come back to haunt the present in Andrew Haigh's 45 Years, the past is the present, yet what ability we may possess to seize the day is stranded amid decades' worth of emotion. Joy reframed as heartbreak takes its toll on Charlotte Rampling's Kate, all at once and wholly alone, a prickly, precise and powerful summation of a generation, a nation and an institution in little more than two characters and one week. The film is a little precious at times, though dramatically solid, and courts contrivance, though to perfect emotional purpose; Haigh's little errors can all be qualified in pursuit of his dramatic goals, and forgiven in light of the overall success of 45 Years as a creative venture. His experience as an editor carries particular profundity in crafting this film, as he constructs scenes and passages with sensitivity to mood and character; as a director, he subtly emphasises the allusions to the past that abound in the script, fashioning a film that does its job without calling any attention to itself - an appropriately dignified, humble piece of prime British craftsmanship. That Haigh is aided immeasurably by the terrific work of his lead actors, Rampling and Tom Courtenay, is demanding of all one's attention and admiration however, and that both are at the top of their game is yet more credit to his smart, empathetic touch as a fledgling great filmmaker. 45 years have been lost to lies; may Andrew Haigh see at least 45 more if he can keep this standard up.