Yorgos Lanthimos’s romantic satire grabs seven nominations from Bifa voters, while Macbeth and 45 Years manage six and the shunned The Danish Girl claws back only one

The Lobster on a roll with seven British independent film awards nominations

The Lobster, Yorgos Lanthimos’s film about lonely singletons facing the threat of being turned into an animal if they don’t pair up, has received a lot of love from the British independent film awards (Bifas) nominations.

The romantic satire received seven nominations, including best actor for Colin Farrell, best director and best independent British film. It’s Lanthimos’s first film in English and his second Bifa nomination. Dogtooth, his Greek-language film about a family living in self-imposed seclusion, was nominated for best foreign film Bifa in 2010.

Other films heading to the awards with multiple nods include Justin Kurzel’s adaptation of Macbeth (six nominations, including best actor for Michael Fassbender), Andrew Haigh’s drama 45 Years (six, with one for Charlotte Rampling in the best actress category) and Alex Garland’s sci-fi thriller Ex Machina (five).

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Tom Hooper’s The Danish Girl, thought to be a potential big-hitter in this year’s awards race, was surprisingly absent from most of the announced categories. Hooper’s biopic, which stars Eddie Redmayne as Lili Elbe, one of the first people to receive gender reassignment surgery, received only one nomination: best actress for Redmayne’s co-star, Alicia Vikander, who also stars in Ex Machina.

Brooklyn, John Crowley’s adaptation of Colm Tóibin’s Booker-longlisted novel, received five nominations. Star Saoirse Ronan grabbed one, as did screenwriter Nick Hornby. Domhnall Gleeson, Ronan’s co-star, was nominated in the best supporting actor category alongside his father, Brendan, who was nominated for Suffragette.

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That film, a fictionalised account of the Suffragettes’ struggle for enfranchisement, picked up four nominations, including one for Carey Mulligan, who stars as Maud Watts, a downtrodden housewife who is inspired to fight for her right to vote. Mulligan’s co-stars, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne-Marie Duff, were nominated against each other in the best supporting actress category.

Asif Kapadia’s critically lauded documentary Amy, about the late singer Amy Winehouse, received five nominations, best British independent film and best director among them.

The Bifas will take place in London on Sunday 6 December.

Bifas 2015: the full list of nominations

Best British independent film

45 Years – Tristan Goligher, Andrew Haigh

Amy – James Gay-Rees, Asif Kapadia

Ex Machina – Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Alex Garland

The Lobster – Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Efthymis Filippou, Yorgos Lanthimos

Macbeth – Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Laura Hastings-Smith, Todd Louiso, Jacob Koskoff, Michael Lesslie, Justin Kurzel

Best director

45 Years – Andrew Haigh

Amy – Asif Kapadia

Ex Machina – Alex Garland

The Lobster – Yorgos Lanthimos

Macbeth – Justin Kurzel

Best actress

Marion Cotillard – Macbeth

Carey Mulligan – Suffragette

Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years

Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn

Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl

Best actor

Tom Courtenay – 45 Years

Colin Farrell – The Lobster

Michael Fassbender – Macbeth

Tom Hardy – Legend

Tom Hiddleston – High-Rise

Best supporting actress

Helena Bonham Carter – Suffragette

Olivia Colman – The Lobster

Anne-Marie Duff – Suffragette

Sienna Miller – High-Rise

Julie Walters – Brooklyn

Best supporting actor

Luke Evans – High-Rise

Brendan Gleeson – Suffragette

Domhnall Gleeson – Brooklyn

Sean Harris – Macbeth

Ben Whishaw – The Lobster

Most promising newcomer

Agyness Dean – Sunset Song

Mia Goth – The Survivalist

Abigail Hardingham – Nina Forever

Milo Parker – Mr Holmes

Bel Powley – A Royal Night Out

Best screenplay

45 years – Andrew Haigh

Brooklyn – Nick Hornby

Ex Machina – Alex Garland

High-Rise – Amy Jump

The Lobster – Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou

The Douglas Hickox award (best debut director)

The Hallow – Corin Hardy

Kajaki: The True Story – Paul Katis

Nina Forever – Chris & Ben Blaine

Slow West – John Maclean

The Survivalist – Stephen Fingleton

The Discovery award

Aaaaaaaah! – Andrew Starke, Steve Oram

Burn Burn Burn – Daniel-Konrad Cooper, Tim Phillips, Charlie Covell, Chanya Button

Orion: The Man Who Would Be King – Jeanie Finlay

The Return – Oliver Nias

Winter – Tilly Wood, Paula Crickard, Heidi Greensmith

Best documentary

Amy – James Gay-Rees, Asif Kapadia

Dark Horse: The Incredible True Story of Dream Alliance – Judith Dawson, Louise Osmond

How to Change the World – Bous De Jong, Al Morrow, Jerry Rothwell

Palio – James Gay-Rees, John Hunt, Cosima Spender

A Syrian Love Story – Elhum Shakerifar, Sean McAllister

Producer of the year

Tristan Goligher – 45 Years

James Gay-Rees – Amy

Paul Katis, Andrew de Lotbiniere – Kajaki: The True Story

Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Yorgos Lanthimos, Lee Magiday – The Lobster

David A Hughes, David Moores – The Violators

Outstanding achievement in craft

Adam Arkapaw – cinematography, Macbeth

Mark Digby – production design, Ex Machina

Chris King – editing, Amy

Fiona Weir – casting, Brooklyn

Andrew Whitehurst – visual effects, Ex Machina

Best British short film

Balcony – Tom Kimberly, Ali Mansuri, Toby Fell-Holden

Crack – Joseph Taussig, Peter King

Edmond – Emilie Jouffroy, Nina Gantz

Love is Blind – Lizzie Brown, Dan Hodgson

Man o Man – Kamilla Kristiane Hodøl, Simon Cartwright

Best international independent film

Carol – Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Woolley, Christine Vachon, Phyllis Nagy, Todd Haynes

Force Majeure – Erik Hemmendorff, Marie Kjellson, Philippe Bober, Ruben Östlund

Girlhood – Bénédicte Couvreur, Céline Sciamma

Room – Ed Guiney, David Gross, Emma Donoghue, Lenny Abrahamson

Son of Saul – Gábor Sipos, Gábor Rajna, Cara Royer, László Nemes