Awards season is heating up and while the Golden Globes didn’t show much love for women directors, the British Independent Film Awards and New York Film Critics Online sure did. “I Am Not a Witch” helmer Rungano Nyoni took home the Best Director prize as well as the The Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director at the BIFAs on Sunday. Meanwhile, NYFC Online named Dee Rees’ “Mudbound” Best Picture (in a tie with “The Florida Project”). “Mudbound” also won Best Ensemble Cast and Rees received the Best Director award.
“I Am Not a Witch,” the story of an eight-year-old girl who is accused of witchcraft, also netted a BIFA for Breakthrough Producer (Emily Morgan). And “Mudbound” — which follows two families, one black and one white, in the WWII-era American South — was among NYFC Online’s Top 10 Films of 2017. The only other woman-directed flick to make the cut was Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird.”
Another big winner was “Lady Macbeth,” a thriller about a young woman who turns murderous when her extramarital affair is threatened. The film earned BIFAs for screenwriter Alice Birch, lead actress Florence Pugh, cinematographer Ari Wegner, and costume designer Holly Waddington. Naomi Ackie also received the Most Promising Newcomer BIFA for her supporting turn as Anna, the long-suffering maid of Pugh’s character.
Finally, both BIFA and NYFC Online recognized women-directed docs. The Best Documentary BIFA went to Carol Salter’s “Almost Heaven,” which centers on 17-year-old Ying Ling as she trains to become a mortician at one of China’s largest funeral homes. NYFC Online named Alexandra Dean’s “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story” as Best Doc. “Bombshell” explores Lamarr’s life and acting career as well as her less well-known talents as an inventor.
All the female winners and women-directed winning films from BIFA and NYFC Online are below.
BIFA, adapted from Variety:
Best Director
Rungano Nyoni “I Am Not a Witch”
Best Screenplay
Alice Birch “Lady Macbeth”
Best Actress
Florence Pugh “Lady Macbeth”
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Clarkson “The Party”
Most Promising Newcomer
Naomi Ackie “Lady Macbeth”
The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director)
Rungano Nyoni “I Am Not a Witch”
Breakthrough Producer
Emily Morgan “I Am Not a Witch”
Best Documentary
“Almost Heaven” Carol Salter
Best Cinematography
Ari Wegner “Lady Macbeth”
Best Casting
Sarah Crowe “The Death of Stalin”
Best Costume Design
Holly Waddington “Lady Macbeth”
Best Make Up & Hair Design
Nicole Stafford “The Death of Stalin”
Best Production Design
Cristina Casali “The Death of Stalin”
Best Sound
Anna Bertmark “God’s Own Country”
NYFC Online, adapted from Deadline:
Best Picture (TIE)
Mudbound (with The Florida Project)
Best Director
Dee Rees, Mudbound
Best Actress
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Best Supporting Actress
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Best Ensemble Cast
Mudbound
Best Documentary
Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
Best Use of Music
Kristen Lane (with Steven Price), Baby Driver
Top 10 Films of 2017 — 2/10 women-directed
Lady Bird
Mudbound
