Stephen Fingleton’s The Survivalist receives BAFTA nomination
Date Posted: January 8, 2016
Nominations for this year’s BAFTA Film Awards were announced this morning by Stephen Fry and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Northern Ireland Screen is delighted to hear that local writer/director Stephen Fingleton is among the prestigious list of nominees. Stephen has received a nomination in the Outstanding Debut category for his feature debut The Survivalist.
The BAFTA nomination comes hot on the heels of The British Independent Film Awards where Stephen was named Best Debut Director and was presented an award in honour of director Douglas Hickox.
The Survivalist received critical acclaim following its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival with industry magazine Screen Daily calling Fingleton ‘a major discovery’. The film continues to wow audiences across various festivals ever since.
The Survivalist was developed with the support of the BFI Film Fund and Northern Ireland Screen’s New Talent Focus Scheme. It was produced by Wayne Marc Godfrey (Silence, Cake), Robert Jones (The Usual Suspects, Babylon) and David Gilbery (Bone Tomahawk) through The Fyzz Facility. Shot entirely in Northern Ireland the film was financed by The Fyzz Facility and BFI in association with Goldcrest. The film received funding from the Northern Ireland Screen Fund supported by Invest NI and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund.
Hailed by Indiewire as “Mad Max in the countryside”, the film boasts stellar performances from Martin McCann (’71, Shadow Dancer, X+Y), Mia Goth (Nymphomaniac Part II, A Cure For Wellness) and Olwen Fouéré (This Must be the Place).
In a kill-or-be-killed world where starvation is rife and strangers are always dangerous, The Survivalist lives off the grid, and by his wits. When a starving woman and her teenage daughter discover his forest refuge, his loneliness drives him to overcome his suspicion and strike a bargain with them in return for bed and board. But as desire becomes stronger than necessity, the exchange becomes an uneasy, ongoing arrangement which threatens not only his carefully constructed world but also his life.
Richard Williams, Chief Executive of Northern Ireland Screen, said; “We are immensely proud of Stephen Fingleton and offer our huge congratulations to him and all the talented crew that made The Survivalist. A BAFTA nomination, a BIFA win and incredible critical acclaim are amazing endorsements for a new writer/director. The Survivalist is a wonderful film and we are delighted to have been able to support it from its early script development stage.”
The Survivalist will be released in cinemas and on demand on 12th February 2016. The film will be previewing in the QFT before general release from 5th February 2016.
The British Academy Film Awards take place on Sunday 14 February at the Royal Opera House,Covent Garden, London. The ceremony will be hosted by Stephen Fry and will be broadcast exclusively on BBC One and BBC One HD, preceded by a red carpet show on BBC Three. The ceremony is also broadcast in all major territories around the world.
