Entertainment

The Problem With Taika Waititi’s ‘Klara and the Sun’ Instagram Post

I’ve seen enough: Taika Waititi is no longer riffing on a level that is frickin’ sublime. A quick update for those of you who don’t get your news from DiscussingFilm and/or obsessively listen to “Who? Weekly” in order to keep tabs on Rita Ora: On Saturday afternoon, writer-director Taika Waititi opened Instagram and posted — to his grid! — a less than equanimous reaction to the reviews of his new motion picture “Klara and the Sun,” which was in the process of making less money per screen during its second weekend than the average movie theater employee. It wasn’t the most embarrassing self-own of the pre-midterms weekend (that honor belongs to Michigan congresswoman Hayley Stevens, who committed political suicide on live TV with Anderson Cooper), but I’d argue that Waititi’s faux pas has more to say about how the reality distortion field of today’s media landscape has made it all too easy for highly visible people to misperceive the world around them in a crisis.
“I haven’t read a review of anything aimed at me or my peers in almost 15 years,” the director wrote under an image celebrating the 53-point mismatch between the film’s audience and critics scores on Rotten Tomatoes. “But I do listen to the people, so this Halloween, let’s spare a thought for those sad lost souls who couldn’t achieve their dreams of becoming artists, and thus became critics. The same people who also hated ‘Jojo Rabbit 😂 🤷🏽‍♂️.’ Irrelevant. Out of touch. Obsolete. In the bin.🗑️😢🫶🏽.”
When I saw that his post had been modified, I assumed that Waititi had deleted the part where he wrote “and another thing: I’m not mad. Please don’t put in the newspaper that I got mad.” In truth, he had simply tweaked the bit where it said that “sad lost souls” like me had settled as critics. Good note! Much as fallen angels plummet from the heavens before landing in the depths of Hell to anguish for all eternity, critics don’t settle for a life of press screenings so much as we pathetically free fall into it, plummeting from the sacred highs of making “Thor: Love & Thunder” to the wretched lows of watching it. It’s that natural eye for editing that explains why “Next Goal Wins” felt like it had been cut with a soccer cleat.
Of course, I don’t take any of this too personally. (Don’t you dare fucking put in the newspaper that I got mad.) For one thing, I was actually quite tolerant of “Thor: Love & Thunder,” if only because I believe that casting Christian Bale as a guy named “Gorr the God Butcher” in and of itself makes that movie better than most of what Marvel was pumping out at the time. For another thing, I haven’t even seen “Klara and the Sun” — not because I was busy when it screened here, or because I live in one of the many countries where its release has been canceled on account of the movie’s supposed awfulness and verifiable lack of public interest, but rather because I adore the Kazuo Ishiguro novel on which it’s based, and I was convinced that hiring the director of “Jojo Rabbit” to adapt such a poignant tale of loss and brokenness would be like hiring Peter Farrelly to remake “The Remains of the Day.” Except worse, because I’ve always felt like the Merchant Ivory version of that book could have used a few gratuitous jokes about Anthony Hopkins’ swollen balls.
The truth is that the perceived quality of Waititi’s film is irrelevant to what I found interesting about his Instagram post, in much the same way as its quality is seemingly irrelevant to everything else as well. And in much the same way as the perceived quality of Waititi’s other films is irrelevant to the hissy fit he decided to throw about this one. Are “the same people who also hated ‘Jojo Rabbit’” in the room with us? Because that Oscar-winning movie is sitting at 81 percent on Rotten Tomatoes (Certified Fresh™!). OK sure, I hated it, but, as we’ve previously established, I am quite literally not “the same people” who hated “Klara and the Sun.”
On the other hand, I would very much consider myself to be among the large cohort of critics who adored Waititi’s earlier features like “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” “What We Do in the Shadows,” and “Eagle vs. Shark.” I suppose I could look up the aggregator metrics for those movies as well, but there isn’t any need — that most of the people reading this article have even heard of such modest Kiwi treasures is testament enough to the groundswell of critical support they received around the world. Perhaps, if he’d read a review in the last 15 years, Waititi might have been able to put that together for himself.
But that’s OK. As a public-facing person whose work offers considerably more fodder for mockery than praise (both by virtue of its nature, and also by that of the je ne sais quoi I bring to the job), I would never sincerely begrudge an artist for not wanting to read their own press. Especially now. Perhaps it used to be possible for celebrities to engage with such things in good faith (it was certainly easier in the days when pans were only found in newspapers, and personal attacks limited to their gossip columns), but the internet is a machine designed to make you hate yourself even more than you hate everyone else, and even our finest “anti-hate satires” have proven incapable of solving the problem.
For some folks, especially those with much greater profiles than my own, the only viable way to navigate the digital world without being fully consumed by self-loathing is to decide that all of the people who snipe at you from the sidelines aren’t really people at all. They’re more like ubiquitous wraiths — eyes looking at you from behind a painting, shadows that your subconscious might warp into an ominous shape, visions in the bog that almost lured Frodo to his death in “The Two Towers.” To let any of it in is to let all of it in, and there’s no amount of fame, money, or adulation that can fully inoculate sensitive people against the poison that seeps into their skin every time they pick up their phone (take it from me, someone who doesn’t have any of those things).
And so critics have gone from being a healthy part of the artistic ecosystem to something that artists feel like they need to be immunized against. Which isn’t to suggest that the animus between artists and critics is anything new. On the contrary, it’s as time-honored a cinematic tradition as popcorn at the movies or, say, the old trope of talented indie filmmakers who completely lose the plot once they become too successful.
If anything, that animus used to be a lot more personal, if only because it was expected that artists would know critics by name. Vincent Gallo famously called Roger Ebert a “fat pig with the physique of a slave trader” after Ebert panned “The Brown Bunny” at Cannes. Uwe Boll offered to box his biggest haters after he got sick of being a critical punching bag, and he beat the absolute shit out of all five of the people who took him up on it. Pauline Kael got so far under Clint Eastwood’s skin that he paid a psychiatrist to figure out what her problem was (the shrink naturally concluded that Kael just wanted to fuck Eastwood), while her review of “Ryan’s Daughter” caused David Lean such a crisis of confidence that he almost retired from directing altogether. And he made “Lawrence of Arabia”! (Which Kael also hated).
I’m not so bold as to presume that I — or any of my contemporaries — have a pen worthy of Kael’s poison or place in the public sphere, but the contrast is telling all the same. Instead of headline-making beefs that stand the test of time, today’s critics might be the subject of a petulant DM or a horde-summoning quote tweet. A prominent action director used to get drunk and send me crude messages about my wife via Instagram, but I think he’s sober now. Ron Perlman once called me a “cunt” on social media because I shat on some Christmas movie he made about furries, but I’d be shocked if he remembered that. Or really if he remembered “Pottersville” at all. I had a funny back-and-forth with a good-natured David Ayer after I trashed his Netflix debacle “Bright”; his promise to put my review on his fridge suggested a much less formal riff on Ridley Scott’s decision to frame Kael’s “Blade Runner” pan and hang it in his office. These days, film critics typically only get put on blast by name, at scale, when they make a major sociopolitical misstep of some kind, such as by arguing that a cartoon about red pandas somehow limits its scope by spotlighting Toronto’s immigrant community, or by fixating on the sexual possibilities that could be explored as a form of Mrs. Incredible’s superpowers. (Pixar movies are just irresistible rakes for critics to step on, I guess).
Today’s filmmakers and stars are certainly still aware of their alleged shooters (bracing for another “Dune” situation, Timothée Chalamet asked me to be kind to “Marty Supreme,” though I’m generally a fan, and he had nothing to fear in that case), but most publicly shared pushback is aimed at “the critics” writ large, if only so we can be reduced to cynical strawmen who exist in contrast to “the fans.” The marketing campaign for “Gotti” argued that critics “put out the hit” on the New York mob classic, and then asked people who they trusted more: themselves or “a troll behind a keyboard.” Ignoring the fact that this troll was behind his keyboard in a fucking tuxedo because that movie premiered as an unofficial selection at Cannes, the poptimistic notion that “real people love things” has become a go-to gameplan for an era where reality is easier to warp than it is to reckon with. In an ironic example of life imitating art, “Digger” recently adopted a similar approach.
I suspect that the systemic diminishment of arts criticism is both a cause and a symptom of this ever-worsening phenomenon. There was a time in this country when arts criticism was valued as a worthwhile pursuit unto itself, as opposed to a wonky and unreliable component of the promotional apparatus. The likes of Gore Vidal, James Baldwin, and Norman Mailer were regular fixtures on late night TV and panel shows; they were as famous as any of the people they wrote about, and when artists pushed back against their critics, it was seen as a debate between equals.
Because of that standing, the brightest minds of their generation were able to thrive as public intellectuals, and even invited to leverage their success into lucrative Hollywood careers of their own (as Vidal and Mailer both did before the resulting feud between them led to Mailer headbutting Vidal in the green room of “The Dick Cavett Show”). Today, the Vidals, Baldwins, and Mailers of the world would never belittle themselves by reviewing “Klara and the Sun” for $150, only for their work to be subsumed into a content aggregator that reduced it to a number in a larger set of numbers. In lieu of meaningful financial and intellectual compensation, any thinkers of such caliber today might understandably find arts criticism unworthy of their time and/or just share it to their Letterboxd for free.
That brings us to the reason why Waititi’s post was so excruciatingly tone-deaf, even though he’s hardly the first director to try the “Am I so out of touch? No, it’s the children who are wrong!” defense. The hierarchy of power in the discourse universe has grown as wildly lop-sided as the hierarchy of power in every other arena of public life. Even the most high-profile of critics are barely scraping by, while anyone successful enough to make news with a “the critics put out the hit” post is likely to be a millionaire several times over.
You’d have to be completely disconnected from reality not to recognize how gauche and myopic it is to call journalists of any kind “obsolete” for speaking truth to power and/or product, but I suppose that’s a side effect of spending 15 years in an ecosystem designed to protect itself at all costs. It’s an ecosystem supported by influencer screenings, celebrity interview podcasts, and so many other quality-laundering tactics that it feels like a desperate and radical act when a star like Tom Cruise dares to sit down with a real magazine writer. Only in an ecosystem like that could someone sharp and humane enough to direct “Boy” and the funny parts of “Thor: Ragnarok” become convinced that everyone who hated “Klara and the Sun” did so out of resentment for their own shortcomings. Only in an ecosystem like that could someone that sharp make a movie like “Klara and the Sun” at all. (Which is not to specifically denigrate the actual “Klara and the Sun,” which again I have not seen.)
Of course, it’s not Waititi’s fault that he’s a product of his time, and in light of Aaron Sorkin’s considerably more sensible and self-effacing response to the reviews for “The Social Reckoning,” it’s worth considering whether his relative grace has something to do with the fact that he first came to success during an earlier iteration of Hollywood, where perspective was easier to come by. Whatever the case, we’re all trying our best to protect ourselves in the face of a world where imitated humanity is of limitless value, and actual humanity is an Achilles’ heel — a world in which one of the great modern authors might be moved to write a fairy tale-like story that questions the distance that has grown between people as a result of our efforts to create external vessels for our souls.
Reading Waititi’s tactless Instagram post back for what I pray is the last time, I’m reminded of a resonant line from Ishiguro’s novel, a line that unsurprisingly failed to make it into Waititi’s adaptation: “What was becoming clear to me was the extent to which humans, in their wish to escape loneliness, made maneuvers that were very complex and hard to fathom.” Perhaps, in some abstract way, Waititi’s Instagram post captured the essence of “Klara and the Sun” better than his film ever could.

Entertainment

Jason Statham & Guy Ritchie Reunite For Netflix Feature ‘Dogfight’

Jason Statham will star in Dogfight, a new Netflix feature written, directed, and produced by Guy Ritchie.
The streamer has said production is slated to begin in early 2027, with filming taking place in the UK. The production companies are Black Bear, Toff Guy Films, and Punch Palace. Producing alongside Ritchie are Statham, Ivan Atkinson, and John Friedberg.
The film is described as a “stylish revenge actioner set in the London criminal underworld.”
Dogfight will be the seventh film collaboration between Ritchie and Statham. Their film credits include Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and the upcoming film Viva La Madness.
Viva La Madness is based on the novel of the same name by J.J. Connolly, who co-wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation with Ritchie.
Connolly’s debut novel, Layer Cake, was previously adapted for the screen by Matthew Vaughn. Starring in the film alongside Statham are Vinnie Jones (Snatch, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), Jason Isaacs (White Lotus, Harry Potter), Babs Olusanmokun (Dune, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare), Camila Mendes (Riverdale, Palm Springs), Ben Foster (Motor City, Hell or High Water), Jonny Lee Miller (The Crown, Elementary), and Raúl Alejandro, making his feature film debut.
Viva La Madness was developed by Statham for Punch Palace Productions and Thomas Benski for Lumina Studios, who are producing alongside Ritchie and Ivan Atkinson for Toff Guy Films and John Friedberg for Black Bear. Black Bear will distribute the film domestically, while Amazon MGM Studios will distribute it in the majority of international territories.

Entertainment

Nicolas Cage says he is ‘a little bit homeless’ after Malibu sinkhole

Nicolas Cage is opening up about the massive sinkhole that consumed his driveway.
Discussing his Halloween plans, the “National Treasure” actor revealed his living arrangements after a sinkhole threatened his home in September.
“I’m currently a little bit homeless,” he said during a recent appearance at Los Angeles Comic Con, according to fan video. “Something happened to my house in Malibu, so I’m just sort of living in hotels, so I don’t have the normal trick-or-treaters I would like to enjoy tonight.”
Cage, 62, is the owner of a mansion on California’s south coast, per reports from The Los Angeles Times and NBC News, where a gigantic sinkhole formed in the driveway. The sinkhole was estimated to be up to 30 feet deep, 30 feet wide and 60 feet long, according to a proclamation of a local emergency issued by the City of Malibu at the time. The entire portion of the driveway adjacent to the garage collapsed, as seen in aerial photos of the sinkhole. It is unclear if there was damage to the home itself.
USA TODAY has reached out to Cage’s rep for comment.
According to the city’s proclamation, the hole began developing on Monday, Sept. 7, and emerged on Sept. 8. Over 30 homes were “red-tagged,” or restricted for unsafe conditions, due to the hazard caused by the sinkhole and the loss of safe car access. Gas service to the area was shut off, with media outlets reporting the sinkhole caused a gas leak.
Days later, the city provided an update, noting that the area’s homeowners’ association, along with its engineers and contractors, was responsible for handling repairs, while the city was assisting with permits and monitoring conditions.
The city has not seemingly released further updates on the repair timeline, the evacuation order lifting, or when red tags may be canceled.

Entertainment

Rebecca Gayheart Recalls Husband Eric Dane’s Last Days: EXCLUSIVE

When the camera cuts, the interview isn’t over. With “Cut for Time,” TODAY.com spotlights the questions our anchors couldn’t get to on air.
Rebecca Gayheart has opened up about the final days of husband Eric Dane’s life, from family sleepovers in his room to having “no idea that was it” during his last trip to the hospital.
Dane died at 53 in February, less than one year after publicly announcing he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Gayheart, 55, spoke with NBC special correspondent Maria Shriver on TODAY Nov. 3, the release day for Dane’s posthumous memoir, “My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments.” The actor shared how she and their two daughters “never, ever anticipated” that they would lose him in February.
“He had gone to the hospital so many times before, and they would patch him up, so to speak, and he would come home,” Gayheart said. “And he’d be OK. And we’d go back to the normal routine, which did change week by week.”
She recalled the first day of Dane’s final trip to the hospital.
“I said, ‘Listen, I’ll be back. I have a dinner. I’m going to this event.’ I had no idea that that was it, that that week was going to be our last week,” Gayheart said. “And nor did my daughters. It really took a few days for us to understand the gravity of what that last trip to the hospital meant.”
Gayheart and Dane married in 2004 and filed for divorce in 2018. Gayheart filed to have the divorce dismissed in 2025. They co-parented their daughters, and she was by his bedside in his final week.
The actor and model and their daughters, Billie, 16, and Georgia, 14, began to realize the gravity of the situation after a couple of days.
“I think it was like day three in the hospital where it shifted,” Gayheart said. “Everything shifted. Just the tone of when the doctors were talking to us, and some of the information we were given.”
Dane also recognized how serious things were getting.
“He was fully aware it was shifting, and he was still communicating with us,” Gayheart said. “Not well verbally, but I could understand him most of the time. The kids could most of the time, his closest friends.”
Friends of the couple who are doctors helped Gayheart navigate that emotional time, during which she said she suffered from “decision fatigue.” She said Dane knew he was dying.
“It was figuring it out as we went,” she said. “But I remember the moment Eric decided to make some choices, and he did. … He was in control of the way he was going to leave.”
To comfort the “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Euphoria” actor in his final days, Gayheart and their daughters conducted their usual family sleepover in Dane’s hospital room.
“The girls and I just camped out there with him, and we had our family sleepovers,” she said. “And we brought in those little candles that aren’t real candles. They have batteries. And we played his favorite music, and we tried to make it as nice as you can be in the hospital room.”
Gayheart was unprepared for how swiftly the end came.
“A lot of people will say, ‘Well, at least you knew, and you could have those last conversations,’” she said. “But we didn’t know, because there is no road map. No one can tell you what the journey looks like because it’s so different for every patient.
“He was becoming more alive mentally, but losing all of his physical abilities. And for the girls, that was really hard to watch as well. But overall, it’s a blur, because it was just so overwhelming.”
In the wide-ranging conversation, Gayheart also spoke to Shriver about Dane’s posthumous book, his decision to go public about his ALS diagnosis, her struggles in becoming a caregiver, the moment she found out he had ALS and how their daughters are faring in the wake of his death.
“He became a different person in a way,” Gayheart said. “He really valued his life suddenly, and every minute of how he was going to spend his life and what he was going to do with his days.”

Entertainment

Taylor Red country singer Nicole Taylor dead at 35, triplet sisters reveal ‘heartbreaking’ cause of death

Taylor Red country singer Nicole Taylor has died following a battle with breast cancer, her triplet sisters, Nika and Natalie Taylor, revealed. She was 35.
In a heartbreaking YouTube video, Nika and Natalie explained that their big sister passed away and is “at peace and no longer suffering.”
“We are still processing everything. This honestly feels really hard to talk about, but we’re going to do our best in sharing some of her story,” Natalie said in the clip.
“She was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2022,” she added, saying they found out the shocking news while they were out in a “public place.”
Nika said Nicole, both 35, later found out she had Stage 3 breast cancer that was “very aggressive.”
“She pushed us all to have fun and not live in fear and hopelessness and she even did CrossFit during the time she was getting chemo treatments,” Natalie shared.
“And I remember one day specifically at church; it was soon after the diagnosis. She was prayed over and God gave her so much peace after that, she said. She said that peace stayed with her so long. I think that’s what kept her so fierce during this time,” she added.
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The sisters also created a page in Nicole’s memory, on which they revealed she died on Sept. 28.
“Nicole, the oldest of us three sisters, will be greatly missed. She was our leader and our best friend,” Nika and Natalie wrote in a statement.
“We are heartbroken, but we know she is in Heaven and will see her again,” the influencers added.
Nika and Natalie also revealed that they have already held a private funeral for Nicole.
The red-haired identical triplets grew up playing instruments like the guitar, banjo, fiddle and mandolin.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the trio — who were originally named Red Roots — began posting highly synchronized comedy skits, transition videos and musical challenges on TikTok and YouTube.
They grew their online presence, garnering more than 13 million TikTok followers and 16 million YouTube subscribers.
The Taylor Red singers also built brand partnerships with Sonic Drive-In, Crocs, Lipton and Skittles.
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Entertainment

‘Elsinore’ Leads Awards Nods With 12

Andrew Scott’s Elsinore leads the nominations for the 2026 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), which were unveiled on Tuesday.
BIFA-winning actors Jay Lycurgo and Posy Sterling revealed at One Hundred Shoreditch in London that the film received 12 nominations, followed by Clio Barnard’s I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning with eight, and Animol, the directorial feature debut of Adolescence star Ashley Walters, with seven.
In the best British independent film category, Simon Stone’s Elsinore and I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning are joined by Marc Evans’ Effi O Blaenau, Queen at Sea, directed by Lance Hammer, and Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care.
Stone and Barnard also scored best debut director nominations, along with Andrew Haigh for A Long Winter, Mark Jenkin for Rose of Nevada and Leigh for Tender Loving Care.
Best lead performance nominees include Scott for Elsinore, Juliette Binoche for her role in Queen at Sea,
Erin Doherty for Faith, Leisa Gwenllian for Effi o Blaenau, Jonathan Jules for Florid, and Tut Nyuot for Animol.
Claire Foy, Tom Courtenay, Sekou Diaby, Anna Calder-Marshall, Billie Piper and Bill Pullman were nominated as best supporting performers. And among the nominees in the best ensemble performance category are the likes of Bella Ramsey, Anthony Boyle, Joe Cole, Lycurgo, Daryl McCormack, Lola Petticrew, James Blunt, James Norton and Neil Patrick Harris.
Competing for the best international independent film are All of a Sudden, Club Kid, La Bola Negra, La Gradiva and Possible Love.
Meanwhile, nominated for the feature documentary award are All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea, Everybody to Kenmure Street, One in a Million, Something Familiar and We, the Hated.
And in a notable feat, the best music supervision award category features Connie Farr receiving two nominations.
The BIFAs 2026 ceremony takes place on Dec. 6 at the Camden Roundhouse in London. Check out the full list of nominees for the 2026 BIFAs below.
Best British Independent Film
Effi O Blaenau Marc Evans, Gary Owen, Branwen Cennard
Elsinore Simon Stone, Stephen Beresford, Andrea Occhipinti, Gabrielle Tana, Pete Shilaimon, Mickey Liddell, Stefano Massenzi, Carolyn Marks Blackwood, Andrew Scott
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning Clio Barnard, Enda Walsh, Tracy O’riordan
Queen at Sea Lance Hammer, Tristan Goligher
Tender Loving Care Mike Leigh, Georgina Lowe
Best Director
Clio Barnard I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Andrew Haigh A Long Winter
Mark Jenkin Rose of Nevada
Mike Leigh Tender Loving Care
Simon Stone Elsinore
Best Screenplay, sponsored by Apple Original Films
Stephen Beresford Elsinore
Lance Hammer Queen at Sea
Mike Leigh Tender Loving Care
Gary Owen Effi O Blaenau
Enda Walsh I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Best Lead Performance
Juliette Binoche Queen at Sea
Erin Doherty Faith
Leisa Gwenllian Effi O Blaenau
Jonathan Jules Florid
Tut Nyuot Animol
Andrew Scott Elsinore
Best Supporting Performance
Anna Calder-Marshall Queen at Sea
Tom Courtenay Queen at Sea
Sekou Diaby Animol
Claire Foy Ink
Billie Piper Elsinore
Bill Pullman Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Best Joint Lead Performance
Séamus Mclean Ross, Samuel Bottomley California Schemin’
Flora Nicholson, Clare Dunne, Mia Tharia The Education of Jane Cumming
Marni Duggan, Galaxie Clear Extra Geography
Chimpaye Florence Mariserena, Bizimana Hussain Small Gods
Best Ensemble Performance
I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning Anthony Boyle, Joe Cole, Jay Lycurgo, Daryl Mccormack, Lola Petticrew
Sunny Dancer Bella Ramsey, Daniel Quinn-Toye, Ruby Stokes, Earl Cave, Conrad Khan, Jasmine Elcock, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Louis Gaunt, Josie Walker, Jessica Gunning, James Norton, Neil Patrick Harris, James Blunt
Tender Loving Care Marion Bailey, Paul Jesson, Kate O’flynn, Alice Bailey Johnson
Best Feature Documentary, sponsored by Intermission Film
All Rivers Spill Their Stories to the Sea Jeanie Finlay, Charlie Phillips
Everybody to Kenmure Street Felipe Bustos Sierra, Ciara Barry
One in a Million Itab Azzam, Jack Macinnes, Will Anderson, Andrew Palmer, James Bluemel, Raney Aronson-Rath
Something Familiar Rachel Taparjan, Aleksandra Bilic, Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan
We, the Hated Rich Felgate, David Allen
Cinema of the Year, supported by Kia
Abbeygate Cinema
Campus West
Hippodrome Cinema
The Kinema in the Woods
The Ultimate Picture Palace
The Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director), sponsored by BBC Film
Billy Lumby Florid
Molly Manners Extra Geography
Bertil Nilsson Masc
Louis Paxton The Incomer
Ashley Walters Animol
Breakthrough Producer, sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios
Itab Azzam, Jack Macinnes, Will Anderson, James Bluemel, Andrew Palmer One in a Million [also produced by Raney Aronson-Rath]
Branwen Cennard Effi O Blaenau
Tom Hawkins Animol [also Produced by Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, Nick Love, Ashley Walters]
Oskar Pimlott Bad Apples
Alex Polunin Black Church Bay [also Produced by Tristan Goligher]
Breakthrough Performance, sponsored by Netflix
Galaxie Clear Extra Geography
Sekou Diaby Animol
Leisa Gwenllian Effi O Blaenau
Jonathan Jules Florid
Tut Nyuot Animol
Best Debut Screenwriter, sponsored by Film4
Miriam Battye Extra Geography
Thea Gajić Surviving Earth
Rhys Marc Jones Black Church Bay
Jess O’Kane Bad Apples
Louis Paxton The Incomer
The Raindance Maverick Award
Act 3 Christine Molloy, Joe Lawlor, Alex Thiele, Hannah Patterson
Chatlines Neil Ely, Lloyd Eyre-Morgan, Paul Mortlock
Masc Bertil Nilsson
The Peril at Pincer Point Jake Kuhn, Noah Stratton-Twine
Something Familiar Rachel Taparjan, Monica Lăzurean-Gorgan, Elena Martin, Aleksandra Bilic
Best British Short Film
Allies in Exile Hasan Kattan, Orlando Von Einsiedel
Coyotes Said Zagha, Myriam Sassine, Laura Jumel
Forgotten Spaceman Elham Ehsas, Lorraine Bhattachary
Untitled Woman Camille Summers-Valli, Rosmarie Vind, Sorcha Bacon, Martha Mcguirk, David Zander
Vote Gavin Lyle Aneil Karia, Scott O’donnell, Tom Gardner
Best International Independent Film, sponsored by Champagne Taittinger
All of a Sudden Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Léa Le Dimna, David Gauquié, Julien Deris, Kôsuke Oshida, Yûji Sadai, Jean-Luc Ormières, Renan Artukmaç, Hiroko Matsuda
Club Kid Jordan Firstman, Galen Core, Alex Coco
La Bola Negra Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo
La Gradiva Marine Atlan, Anne Brouilet, Inès Daïen Dasi
Possible Love Lee Chang-Dong, Oh Jung-Mi
Best Casting
Shaheen Baig I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Heather Basten Animol
Lara Manwaring Florid
Lucy Pardee Extra Geography
Jessica Ronane Elsinore
Best Cinematography, sponsored by Kodak & Molinare
Mike Eley Elsinore
Piers Mcgrail Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Christopher Ripley Straight Circle
Simon Tindall I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
André Turpin a Long Winter
Best Costume Design
Sarah Blenkinsop The Incomer
Alex Bovaird Savage House
Carol Case A Long Winter
Darion Hing Straight Circle
Mel Page Elsinore
Best Editing
Valerio Bonelli Elsinore
Otto Burnham Black Is Beautiful: the Kwame Brathwaite Story
Fouad Gaber Straight Circle
Maya Maffioli I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Fin Oates Ink
Best Effects
Jon Biggins, Jeff Dillon Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom
Ruslan Borysov, Richard Cheal, Tim Ledbury The Magic Faraway Tree
Daniel Morris The Incomer
Best Music Supervision
Connie Farr I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Connie Farr Queen at Sea
Phil Canning Sunny Dancer
Best Make-Up & Hair Design
Jacquetta Levon Savage House
Nadia Stacey Elsinore
Nadia Stacey Madfabulous
Karen Hartley Thomas The Magic Faraway Tree
Tristan Versluis Straight Circle
Best Original Music, sponsored by Universal Music Publishing Group
Roger Goula Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Stefan Gregory Elsinore
Mark Jenkin Rose of Nevada
Hannah Peel Underland
Siôn Trefor, Ioana Selaru Effi O Blaenau
Best Production Design, sponsored by ATC
Luke Moran-Morris Straight Circle
Gareth Pugh, Carson McColl Ink
Helen Scott Elsinore
Alexandra Walker The Magic Faraway Tree
Gary Williamson Savage House
Best Sound, sponsored by Bleat
Andy Coles, John Brennan Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Paul Cotterell, Ron Osiowy, Joakim Sundström A Long Winter
Simon Hayes, Johnnie Burn Ink
Mark Jenkin, Ian Wilson Rose of Nevada
Dario Swade, George Elliott, Tom Harburt Florid