Sam Riley in Control, which won five awards in the 2007 BIFA ceremony
Welcome to the shadow world. At first glance, one of the stranger aspects of contemporary film culture is that almost every event, whether an awards show or a film festival, has its shadow. For Sundance, it’s Slamdance. For the London Film Festival, it’s the Raindance Festival. For the BAFTAs, it’s the BIFAs.
The 10th “BIFAs” (or British Independent Film Awards, to give them their full name) were held in London earlier this week, with Anton Corbijn’s Control (about the life and death of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis) winning a hatful of awards.
The BIFAs are one of the first in an increasingly crowded awards season. They were set up “to celebrate merit and achievement in independently funded British filmmaking.” But given that most British movies are independently funded anyway, and that the BAFTAs also celebrate new talent (notably through the Carl Foreman award), are they really needed? Do they serve any real purpose for either the industry or the audience? The answer is: absolutely. The point about “shadow events” is that they’re invariably more daring, more subversive, and often more eccentric than the older award shows in whose shadow they appear.
You might quibble with definitions of “independence,” and also question some of the criteria for eligibility. For example, Notes On A Scandal (backed by a Hollywood studio in the shape of Fox Searchlight) now seems like a film from a very long time ago. Nonetheless, it is surely heartening that Judi Dench’s wonderfully malevolent, Bette Davis-like performance as a North London teacher with an unholy crush on a younger female colleague is being rewarded. By giving prizes both to Dench and to newcomers like Toby Kebbell and Sam Riley in Control, the BIFAs are running the gamut of British screen acting talent.
One problem that the BIFAs now face is the danger of moving too far into the light. One of the charms of “shadow events” (at least in their early years) is that they are ramshackle. The microphones don’t work. The awards are read out in the wrong order. Everything verges on chaos, but so much alcohol is flowing that no one notices.
The risk for the BIFAs (which some will also see as its greatest opportunity) is that they will get the same kind of makeover as The Golden Globes a few years ago. The Globes had fallen into disrepute in the 1980s because of a tendency to give awards to actresses like Pia Zadora and the venal behaviour of some members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organized the event. Now, partly because broadcasters, advertisers and distributors see value in the event, it is as much a part of the mainstream as the Oscars themselves.
Look at BIFA’s sponsors and you can’t help but notice that they are part of the film industry establishment. They receive public backing through the UK Film Council, and are also supported by the likes of Disney and the BBC. Still, the decision to give the main awards to films like Control and Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten, and to present a lifetime achievement award to an old bruiser like Ray Winstone, suggests that at least some of the original ethos still survives.
Source: Do we need alternative awards?
