BIFA New Talent longlist features three Northern Ireland filmmakers
Date Posted: October 24, 2022
The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) today announced the longlist for its New Talent categories. Northern Ireland talent has a strong presence with Stacey Gregg (Here Before), Kathryn Ferguson (Nothing Compares) and Paul Kennedy (Nightride) all longlisted.
Stacey Gregg has been longlisted in the Best Debut Director and Best Debut Screenwriter categories for Here Before. The psychological thriller stars the BAFTA-nominated Andrea Riseborough (Shadow Dancer, Birdman) with Jonjo O’Neill (The Fall), Eileen O’Higgins (Brooklyn), Martin McCann (Wildfire) and introduces Niamh Dornan.
When a new family moves in next door to Laura (Riseborough) and her family, their young daughter, Megan (Dornan), quickly captivates her, stirring up painful memories of her own daughter, Josie, who died several years previously. Before long, Laura’s memories turn to obsession as Megan’s unsettling behaviour begins to convince her of something supernatural. As Laura’s determination to get to the bottom of it becomes all consuming, her family begins to fracture and the line between the extraordinary and the real becomes ever more obscured in this haunting story about a mother’s love.
Kathryn Ferguson has been longlisted in the new Best Debut Director Feature Documentary category for Nothing Compares. The film charts Sinéad OʼConnorʼs phenomenal rise to worldwide fame and examines how she used her voice at the height of her stardom before her iconoclastic personality led to her exile from the pop mainstream. Focusing on Sinéad’s prophetic words and deeds from 1987 to 1993, the film presents an authored, richly cinematic portrait of this fearless trailblazer through a contemporary feminist lens.
Paul Kennedy has been longlisted in the Breakthrough Producer category for Nightride. Nightride is a wry real-time one shot thriller set on the midnight streets of Belfast. It places us in the driver’s seat with small-time dealer Budge as he tries to pull one last deal with cash borrowed from a dangerous loan shark. When the handover goes catastrophically wrong, Budge finds himself in a race against time to find his missing product and get a new buyer before the loan shark tracks him down.
The final five nominations in each category will be announced Friday 4 November. Winners will be revealed at the 25th BIFA ceremony on Sunday 4 December.
