24 November 2015
Newsdesk
The Moët British Independent Film Awards announced today that Chiwetel Ejiofor will be honoured with The Richard Harris Award which will be presented to him at this year’s ceremony on Sunday 6 December at Old Billingsgate.
The Richard Harris Award was introduced in 2002 in honour of Richard Harris and recognises outstanding contribution to British film by an actor. Previous winners have been John Hurt, David Thewlis, Bob Hoskins, Jim Broadbent, Daniel Day-Lewis, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Julie Walters and Emma Thompson in 2014.
The award is bestowed upon Chiwetel Ejiofor in recognition of his exceptional service to the film industry, not just here in the UK but internationally as an ambassador for British film.
Jared Harris, son of Richard Harris, commented: “I am so happy this award is going to Chiwetel. Although the recipients of this award have all been embraced by the establishment, they all came from outside it, fought their way in on the strength of their talent, claimed their place and changed the status quo. A journey which describes Chiwetel's career perfectly. His talent is immense, it has brought him deserved worldwide recognition, and he is in his prime! I hope this award inspires British filmmakers to take advantage of him and build films around his talent.”
This year’s nominations were announced on 3 November at The London EDITION. In total, 28 different British feature films are nominated with The Lobster leading the nominations with seven; 45 Years and Macbeth have six nominations each. Amy, Brooklyn and Ex Machina have five, and High-Rise and Suffragette each receive four nominations. For the full list visit www.bifa.film/awards/nominations
The winners will be announced at The Moët British Independent Film Awards on Sunday 6 December at Old Billingsgate and the event will be live streamed on www.bifa.film
BIFA also recently announced a landmark series of public screenings of BIFA-nominated and winning films, supported by the BFI, which hit cinemas nationwide from today. For further details and to buy tickets, visit: www.discover.bifa.film
