9 BAFTA noms for Film4's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

9 January 2018

• I AM NOT A WITCH nominated for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer
• WORK receives nomination in British Short Film category

Martin McDonagh’s Film4 backed Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri today received nine BAFTA award nominations including: Best Film; Outstanding British Film; Director; Original Screenplay; Best Leading Actress (Frances McDormand); Best Supporting Actor (Woody Harrelson); Best Supporting Actor (Sam Rockwell); Best Cinematography (Ben Davis) and Best Editing (Jon Gregory).

This follows the film’s triumph at the Golden Globes ceremony on Sunday evening where it won four awards, including Best Motion Picture (Drama); Best Screenplay, by Martin McDonagh; the film’s star, Frances McDormand, won the award for Best Actress; and Sam Rockwell won Best Supporting Actor.

Welsh-Zambian filmmaker Rungano Nyoni and producer Emily Morgan have also received a BAFTA nomination in the Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer category for their Film4 backed debut feature film I AM NOT A WITCH.

WORK, written and directed by Aniel Karia and produced by Scott O'Donnell has been nominated in the Best British Short Film category.

Director of Film4 Daniel Battsek commented: “We're absolutely thrilled Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards has been recognised by BAFTA and its members with nine nominations – and following such a successful weekend at the Golden Globes! Film4 has a long history with Martin having backed all his films to date, helping this important writer to achieve the worldwide critical acclaim he deserves. And we’re also delighted both Rungano Nyoni's directorial debut and Aneil Karia and Scott O’Donnell's short film Work have been acknowledged today.

"These nominations illustrate the vital role Film4 plays to incubate home-grown talent and promote their work to a global audience.” 

Martin McDonagh’s films include his Oscar-winning 2006 short film Six Shooter (available to view for free on Film4 website, see URL below), his Oscar-nominated and BAFTA-winning debut feature In Bruges (2008), the 2013 BAFTA-nominated Seven Psychopaths and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has been steadily accruing awards and nominations since bowing at the 2017 autumn film festivals, where it won the Best Screenplay prize at Venice and the Grolsch People’s Choice Award at Toronto, following in the footsteps of previous Film4 backed winners Room (2015), 12 Years a Slave (2013) and Slumdog Millionaire (2008). The film has been nominated for a PGA award, four SAG awards (more than any other film), is one of the AFI Movies of the Year, has six Critics Choice Award nominations, three Independent Spirit Award nominations, won four Golden Globes, two British Independent Film Awards, audience awards at film festivals in San Sebastián, Denver and Leeds, as well as at Camerimage, has seven London Critics Circle Film Award nominations (more than any other film), and has received awards or nominations from critics groups in Los Angeles, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Austin, San Francisco and Washington, as well as the Alliance of Women Film Journalists and the African American Film Critics Association.

The film just crossed $25 million at the US box office, and opens in the UK on 12th January, 2018 through Fox Searchlight.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is financed on a 50/50 basis by Film4 and Fox Searchlight Pictures, with the studio taking worldwide distribution rights. Film4’s parent company Channel 4 Television retains UK TV rights – profits from which will be used to support future British film production.

I Am Not a Witch from first time writer/director Rungano Nyoni world premiered in Directors’ Fortnight at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and was selected as the Closing Night Gala of the Toronto Film Festival’s Discovery section. The film has won three British Independent Film Awards: Rungano took home both Best Director and the Douglas Hickox Award for Debut Director, and Emily Morgan won the award for Breakthrough Producer. The film is nominated for Best International Film at the Independent Spirit Awards and has won awards at festivals in Adelaide, Mumbai, Stockholm and at the Africa International Film Festival.

-ENDS-

ABOUT FILM4

 

Film4 is Channel 4 Television’s feature film division. Film4 develops and co-finances films and is known for working with the most distinctive and innovative talent in UK and international filmmaking, both new and established.

 

Film4 has developed and co-financed many of the most successful UK films of recent years, Academy Award®-winners such as Lenny Abrahamson’s Room, Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, Asif Kapadia’s box office record breaking documentary Amy, Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire and Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady, in addition to critically-acclaimed award-winners such as Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Lobster, Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner, Chris Morris’s Four Lions, Shane Meadows’ This is England, Clio Barnard’s The Selfish Giant, Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin, Andrew Haigh’s 45 Years and David Mackenzie’s Starred Up.

Film4’s recent releases include Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Rungano Nyoni’s I Am Not a Witch, Danny Boyle’s T2 Trainspotting, Andrea Arnold’s American Honey, Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire, Todd Haynes’ Carol and Sarah Gavron’s Suffragette. Forthcoming releases include festival award winners Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here and Andrew Haigh’s Lean on Pete, as well as Clio Barnard’s Dark River, Sebastián Lelio’s Disobedience, John Cameron Mitchell’s How To Talk To Girls At Parties, Michael Pearce’s Beast, Paddy Considine’s Journeyman and Toby MacDonald’s Old Boys. Films in production include Lenny Abrahamson’s The Little Stranger, Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite, Bart Layton’s American Animals, Tinge Krishnan’s Been So Long, Iain Morris’s The Festival, Mike Leigh’s Peterloo, Steve McQueen’s Widows, Stephen Merchant’s Fighting With My Family, Garth Davis’s Mary Magdalene, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, Tom Harper’s Country Music, Jim Hosking’s An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn and Asif Kapadia’s Maradona.

For further information please visit www.film4productions.com