Last night's second annual British Independent Film Awards honoured Nicolas Roeg, Sir Ian McKellen, Emily Watson, and Tim Roth. Sir Ian was granted Best Actor for his role in Gods and Monsters, the story of gay horror film director James Whale, while Emily Watson won Best Actress for her portrayal of Jacqueline Du Pre in Hillary and Jackie.
Held at London's Cafe Royal, BIFA's also favoured actor / director Tim Roth's debut The War Zone, which received the greatest number of nominations and secured a Best Newcomer gong for actress Lara Belmont. Michael Winterbottom's Wonderland won Best Film, and director Nicolas Roeg was given the Lifetime Achievement Award for his many seminal films, including Don't Look Now, Track 29 and Performance. The BIFA founder Elliot Grove told the BBC "The fact that there is no one film which has dominated tonight's awards reflects the diversity of filmmaking in the UK over the past year. It is very rewarding to see that, from a total of 84 films under consideration, over 60% were directorial debuts. We set out to recognise and celebrate British independent filmmaking talent."