News

Colin Callender’s Playground will adapt Georges Simenon’s best-selling detective novels “Maigret” into a television series set to air in the U.S. on PBS under the “Masterpiece” banner.

The adaptation of the streetwise Parisian Chief Inspector Jules Maigret has started production in Budapest. Callender and David Stern will executive produce for Playground.

Benjamin Wainwright will play Maigret and Stefanie Martini stars as Madame Louise Maigret.

“George Simenon’s creation of Jules Maigret holds a firm place in the pantheon of great literary detectives and we are incredibly grateful to our partners ‘Masterpiece,’ Banijay, Ilp and John Simenon for their trust and support as we endeavor to bring a contemporary Maigret to a new, worldwide audience,” Stern said. “Patrick Harbinson’s brilliantly fresh take on this iconic IP is reflective of Playground’s ambition to expand our growing slate of contemporary returning dramas that speak to a global marketplace.

A new iteration of one of the most beloved detectives in fiction is coming to PBS.

The public broadcaster has ordered Maigret, a series based on Georges Simenon’s novels about Jules Maigret, a chief inspector for the Paris police. Production on the series, which stars Benjamin Wainwright as the title character, has begun in Budapest; it will air under PBS’ Masterpiece Mystery! banner.

Simenon published more than 100 novels and short stories about Maigret, selling more books than any other detective series aside from Sherlock Holmes. The new Maigret series, produced by Playground (Wolf Hall, All Creatures Great and Small), is set in the present and will position the character as an unconventional young detective with something to prove, a rising star in the Police Judiciaire who is relentless in his investigations and has both an uncanny ability to get under the skin of the criminals he is chasing and...

The long-gestating TV adaptation of Georges Simenon’s Maigret has landed at PBS Masterpiece, with Belgravia: The Next Chapter’s Benjamin Wainwright and Stefanie Martini (Prime Suspect 1973) playing the eponymous leads.

From Colin Callender’s Wolf Hall producer Playground, the series follows the detective and his wife in Paris. Maigret is a rising star in the Police Judiciaire, relentless in his investigations, with an uncanny ability to get under the skin of the criminals he is chasing and a matchless knowledge of Paris and its inhabitants. Lead Wainwright played Lord Frederick Trenchard in MGM+ sequel series Belgravia: The Next Chapter, which followed on from Julian Fellowes’ original.

Patrick Harbinson is writing Maigret and the cast includes Blake Harrison, Reda Elazouar, Kerrie Hayes, Shaniqua Okwok and Rob Kazinsky, with Nathalie Armin set to play Prosecutor Mathilde Kernavel.

The Maigret books are the second best-selling detective series of all time behind Sherlock. Playground licensed them from Georges Simenon Limited and unveiled the development three years ago, at which point Red Arrow Studios International – which is no longer attached – was co-producing. Banijay Rights has since boarded and will sell globally.

The previous Maigret TV adaptation aired on ITV for two seasons from 2016, starring Rowan Atkinson.

Playground Joint MD David Stern said: “George Simenon’s creation of Jules Maigret holds a firm place in the pantheon of great literary detectives and we are incredibly grateful to our partners and John Simenon for their trust and support as we endeavor to bring a contemporary Maigret to a new, worldwide audience.”

Harbinson will direct the first two episodes of the Maigret series with Faye Gilbert directing 3 and 4, and David Evans taking 5 and 6. Susanne Simpson serves as the executive producer on behalf of Masterpiece the lead commissioning broadcaster, with John Simenon executive producing on behalf of Georges Simenon Limited. International distribution will be handled by Banijay Rights, the global sales arm of Banijay Entertainment.

Playground has been busy of late. The indie has completed the second in the Wolf Hall franchise, also for Masterpiece and the BBC, and is working on an Inspector Lynley Mysteries adaptation for BritBox International.

Clockwise from top left: It Lives Inside (Neon), Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (Sony Pictures Releasing), The Matrix Resurrections (Warner Bros. Pictures)Image: The A.V. Club

For the holiday season, Hulu is adding some genre favorites and promising new movies to its library. The streaming platform in December welcomes...

Make yourself at home for the holidays with Hulu! The streamer is heading into the final month of the year with a wide variety of new and classic movies, series from around the globe, anime subs and dubs, documentaries, and much more to binge your way through your vacation days.

Plus, Hulu is making your travel plans easier, be it domestic with the premiere of the Original documentary “We Live Here: The Midwest” or internationally with final season of Canada’s “Letterkenny” and the United States premiere of the A24 Brit-com “Such Brave Girls.”

Check out The Streamable’s top picks for the month and find out everything coming to Hulu this December!

30-Day Free Trial $7.99+ / month hulu.com

Through Cyber Monday, Get Hulu For Just $0.99/mo. For Next 12 Months.

What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Hulu in December 2023? “We Live Here: The Midwest” | Wednesday, Dec. 6

The...

Exclusive: Joe Dempsie (Game of Thrones) and BAFTA winner Francesca Annis (Flesh & Blood) are among a host of stars boarding season 2 of Ben Richards’ BBC legal drama Showtrial.

The pair are joining the previously announced Adeel Akhtar, Nathalie Armin and Michael Socha in the five-part season from Line of Duty maker World Productions. Dempsie will play Di Miles Southgate, while Annis will play a character called Dame Harriet Kenny.

Other high profile cast revealed today include Nina Toussaint-White (Bodyguard) and Fisayo Akinade (Heartstopper). Tom Padley (The Lost Pirate Kingdom), Kerrie Hayes (Blue Jean), Ali Khan (A Haunting in Venice), Daniel Kendrick (Inside Man), Frankie Wilson (Against the Ice), Anna Próchniak (The Tattooist of Auschwitz), Anna Wilson Jones (Victoria), John Light (Around the World in 80 Day), Aidan McArdle (Spy Master), Daisy Badger (The Sandman), Flora Montgomery (The Crown), Pearce Quigley (Detectorists), John Marquez (Doc Martin), Anna Healy (Mother’s Day...

A young woman with a short crop carefully touches up her blonde dye job in the arresting opening moments of Blue Jean, painting the goop on her hair with practiced efficiency to the shimmering notes of Chris Roe’s score. Stepping from the bathroom into the living room of her drab flat, she settles on the couch to watch Blind Date, described by raucous host Cilla Black as “The show that tries to find a boy and a girl that go together like birds of a feather.” That might sound exclusionist or even like a microaggression to some more politically inclined queer viewers. To Jean, it’s just pleasurable fluff.

The scene subtly foreshadows an internal conflict played out with sensitive insightfulness and dramatic tension in writer-director Georgia Oakley’s highly assured debut feature and in a transfixing performance awash in mostly suppressed feeling from Rosy McEwen in her first leading role.

“Not everything is political.” The person saying this, with a sightly exasperated air, is named Jean (Rosy McEwen). She’s a high school Pe teacher, recently(ish) divorced, and still mostly closeted about her sexuality. This declaration of independence is being addressed to her off-on, and very much out, girlfriend Viv (Kerrie Hayes). “Of course it is,” Jean’s partner tells her, and the hint of affection in her voice could almost be mistaken for pity. This is England, 1988 — Margaret Thatcher still rules with an iron-lady fist, and she’s...

Editors note: This review was originally published September 3, 2022 after the film’s world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. The movie opens Friday in New York via Magnolia Pictures.

A lesbian gym teacher navigates Margaret Thatcher’s Britain under the “Section 28” law in Blue Jean, Georgia Oakley’s debut feature premiering in the Venice Days section of the Venice Film Festival.

While it was featured in the recent documentary Rebel Dykes, the impact of Section 28 has rarely been shown on screen, especially from a female perspective, helping to make Blue Jean a refreshing and educational watch.

Section 28 was a 1988-2003 law introduced by Prime Minster Thatcher’s Conservative government, banning local authorities from “promoting homosexuality” in the UK. Protests were rife, but many gay women and men felt compelled to keep their sexuality a secret.

Jean (Rosy McEwen) is one such person. She teaches at an all-girls school, and is...

As difficult as it can be to look back at less accepting times in queer history, it’s even more painful how relevant it remains. Though “Blue Jean” — an acutely felt lesbian drama set during Margaret Thatcher’s regime — takes place over 30 years ago, 1980’s England could easily stand in for any conservative state today. Set against a backdrop of rising anti-gay sentiment and pending legislation, “Blue Jean” tells a political story through one woman’s strained attempts to straddle two worlds. Featuring a stirring breakout performance from the luminous Rosy McEwan, “Blue Jean” grounds the political with the personal — without losing sight of queer joy.

The film opens with a classic image of identity assertion, as puckish Jean (McEwan) bleaches her cropped hair blonde in a mirror. True to its title, she drives a vintage blue compact to school, where her popularity with students stokes jocular envy from her fellow teachers.

Two events from 1988 give profound shape to Blue Jean. First, the conservative British government under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher enacted Section 28, a law prohibiting the “promotion of homosexuality” by local authorities, especially schools. Second, writer-director Georgia Oakley was born. She never knew the world before the regulation, yet she’s also not entirely sure that there’s a world after it either.

Oakley’s frustration with the narrow victories achieved at the cost of great psychological harm to the gay community flows into her feature directorial debut. Blue Jean homes in on how the solemn Jean (Rosy McEwen) has set up a handy compartmentalization between her work life as a gym teacher and her personal life, during which she frequents lesbian bars with her girlfriend, Viv (Kerrie Hayes). But that division collapses when one of her pupils, Lois (Lucy Halliday), begins to explore those same spots. Oakley’s perceptive...

With longer days and—at some more progressive places of employment—Summer Fridays in full effect, daily agendas are now suddenly awash with temporal real estate. Should you use these extra hours to reconnect with family, go to museums or explore the natural world in all its holy wonders? No! You should be watching movies, and lots of ’em! Luckily, June is a rock-solid month with plenty of great Don’t-Miss Indies titles to enjoy.

Padre Pio

When You Can Watch: Now

Where You Can Watch: Theaters (Limited)

Director: Abel Ferrara

Cast: Shia Labeouf, Cristina Chiriac, Marco Leonardi

Why We’re Excited: A two-time Film Independent Spirit Award nominee for Bad Lieutenant (1992) and The Funeral (1996), indie veteran Abel Ferrara’s new biographical drama is based on the Irl story of Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar and priest Francesco Forgione, who was venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church in 1999. It...

Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean is a film about life made unlivable due to the venomous prudishness of British culture. Set in Newcastle, in the north of England, in the late 1980s, the film follows twentysomething Jean (Rosy McEwen) as she juggles a double life: self-effacing physical education teacher by day and femme club-going lesbian by night.

Jean seems to be doing a good job of keeping these personas separate, even if it means that her silence feeds everyone’s presumptions of her heterosexuality. That is, until one of her students, Lois (Lucy Halliday), also a lesbian, starts showing up at the pub where Jean hangs out with her queer friends and butch, tatted-up punk-rock girlfriend, Viv (Kerrie Hayes), who, unlike Jean, is completely uninterested in passing for straight in order to accommodate homophobes.

As in Badrul Hisham Ismail’s recent Maryam, Blue Jean’s protagonist moves through the city in a tiny car.

“Blue Jean” director Georgia Oakley has signed with CAA.

The up-and-coming British filmmaker made her debut feature with the Venice-premiering “Blue Jean,” which bowed to wide acclaim on the Lido in September. Set in northeast England in the 1980s, the pic is centred on a closeted gym teacher (played by Rosy McEwen) who is forced to confront her sexuality after taking a gay student under her wing.

The film tackles the Margaret Thatcher era’s controversial Section 28 law, which prohibited British schools and councils from “promoting the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship.” The law was passed in 1988 and stayed in place until 2003.

“Blue Jean” went on to win the Venice Film Festival’s Giornate degli Autori People’s Choice Award. The movie was later acquired by Magnolia Pictures for a North American release, which will take place June 9.

During its awards run, “Blue Jean...

Blue Jean isn’t your typical British fare. Georgia Oakley’s striking debut places a lesbian relationship front and centre – without lacing up its leads in corsets. It’s an Eighties-set drama that’s adorned with familiar references – but isn’t mired in outlandish grime and misery. Most crucially, it’s a story about past injustice that doesn’t gorge itself on self-satisfaction. Nor the comforting myth that Britain is on a steady path of betterment.

Jean (Rosy McEwen) is a teacher in Newcastle. It’s 1988, in the weeks and months after Section 28 has come into effect, instructing British state schools not to “promote the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”. Jean has always kept her sexuality hidden from her coworkers. But that veil of self-protection comes under threat when she spots one of her new students, Lois (Lucy Halliday), at the local lesbian bar...

When Rosy McEwen was filming the Eighties-set lesbian drama Blue Jean, something strange started happening in the middle of the night. “I’d wake up and burst into tears,” says the actor, her icy blue eyes wide at the memory. “My breathing would start to go and I’d just sob uncontrollably. It happened a few times, and I didn’t even feel sad. There was just something that needed to come out.”

McEwen’s feelings were quite literally spilling out of her because, for every day of the three-month shoot, she was pushing down all the fear and frustration felt by her character Jean, a gay Pe teacher working in the time of Section 28. The law was brought in under Thatcher in 1988 to “prohibit the promotion of homosexuality” in schools. It had a crippling effect on queer communities and effectively slammed the closet door on generations of LGBT+ people.

Editor’s note: Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series debuts and celebrates the scripts of films factoring in this year’s movie awards races.

For her debut feature, filmmaker Georgia Oakley returns to 1980s Britain as Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government has introduced Section 28, a clause of the Local Government Act that seeks to prohibit “the promotion of homosexuality” by local authorities across the United Kingdom.

At the time, protests were rife, but many gay women and men felt compelled to keep their sexuality a secret.

Blue Jean, written and directed by Oakley, follows Jean, a school gym teacher who keeps her sexuality a secret from her colleagues. The threat is immediate and real: if exposed, her love life could cost her her job. However, Jean finds little sympathy from her girlfriend, Viv. Out and proud, Viv is part of a cooperative of similarly assertive lesbian women. Viv regards...

"How is that girl ever gonna learn that she has a place in this world?" "What makes you think she has a place in this world?" Altitude Films in the UK has revealed an official trailer for Blue Jean, an outstanding film marking the feature directorial debut of Georgia Oakley. This first premiered at the 2022 Venice Film Festival last year in the Venice Days sidebar, where I first saw it. It's as good as it looks! Set in the 1980s in England, the film follows a young woman named Jean, played by the very talented actress Rosy McEwen (she was also in Vesper last year). She must carefully navigate the tumult of a rise in LGBTQ hate during the Margaret Thatcher era. As pressure mounts from all sides, the arrival of a new girl at her school catalyses a crisis that will challenge Jean to her core. Also starring Kerrie Hayes,...

When Jean (Rosy McEwen) explains the “fight or flight response” to the kids in her Pe class she doesn’t mention that she knows the feeling all too well. It could describe her near-permanent state of anxiety as she struggles to balance her personal life with her lesbian girlfriend Viv (Kerrie Hayes) with her closeted professional one. That the year is 1988 and the news is full of Maggie Thatcher’s introduction of Section 28, which barred schools from "promoting the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship" only exacerbates the issue.

Blue is the dominant colour in the fabric of Georgia Oakley’s moving character study reflecting its melancholic mood. It also speaks to the chilling effect that government dictats like this can have on every aspect of life for those who they coerce to deny the truth of who they are, not to mention those who are.

The Blue Jean of David Bowie’s 1984 hit was a girl with “a camouflage face,” not unlike the singer and the two personas he splintered into for the song’s video: a djinn-like rockstar dancing onstage and his ordinary, besuited doppelganger watching from below. So it is for the young woman at the center of Georgia Oakley’s own Blue Jean. A Pe teacher stranded in Tyneside, England, Jean (Rosy McEwen) is a divorcée in a same-sex relationship that no-one—least of all her pupils and co-workers—must ever know about. For the year is 1988 and Britain’s grappling with the revolting aftermath of Section 28. The bill passed by Thatcher’s government banned “the promotion of homosexuality” by local authorities, forcing people like Jean into hiding. Camouflaging—its costs and consequences—is at the cornerstone of Oakley’s frank, often quite gripping feature debut. If Blue Jean does not debunk...

It was a great night for Charlotte Wells' father-daughter drama Aftersun at the British Independent Film Awards on Sunday evening, as the film—– already a favourite going into the evening after 16 nominations, won seven, including Best British Independent Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

Other films scoring several awards included Blue Jean, and The Origin, about a nomadic tribe that faces a terrifying ancient threat that comes when night falls.

The BIFAs continued non-gender-specific main performances categories and added one, the Joint Lead Performance, awarded to Tamara Lawrance and Letitia Wright for their roles as extraordinary real-life siblings who communicated only with each other in The Silent Twins.

Here is the full list of winners…

Best British Independent Film

Aftersun – Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson – Winner

Blue Jean – Georgia Oakley, Hélène Sifre

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande – Sophie Hyde, Katy Brand, Debbie Gray, Adrian Politowski

Living – Oliver Hermanus,...

It has been a stellar year for British talent, as is evidenced by the amazing line up of films celebrated and championed by BIFA this evening. The British Independent Film Awards were handed out this evening in London and we were there to talk to the presenters and nominees on the red carpet.

A full list of winners follows the interviews. Colin Hart and Ethan Hart were on the red carpet, here are their interviews.

The 2022 BIFAs Red Carpet Interviews

The full list of winners is below.

Best British Independent Film

Aftersun Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson (Winner)

Blue Jean Georgia Oakley, Hélène Sifre

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande Sophie Hyde, Katy Brand, Debbie Gray, Adrian Politowski

Living Oliver Hermanus, Kazuo Ishiguro, Stephen Woolley, Elizabeth Karlsen

The Wonder Sebastián Lelio, Emma Donoghue, Alice Birch, Juliette Howell, Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross, Ed Guiney

Best Director,...

It was an historic night for female filmmakers at the British Independent Film Awards, with 10 of the night’s biggest awards going to women or films directed by them. The biggest winner of the night was “Aftersun,” which won Best British Independent Film, as well as Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Debut Director for Charlotte Wells. The film also took home prizes for cinematography, editing, and music supervision.

Georgia Oakley’s “Blue Jean” also had a strong showing, with Rosy McEwen winning Best Lead Performance and Kerrie Hayes winning Best Supporting Performance and Oakley winning Best Debut Screenwriter. Shaheen Baig also won Best Casting for the film.

Despite facing stiff competition from the likes of “Decision to Leave” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World” won Best International Independent Film.

Keep reading for the complete list of nominees from the 2022 British Independent Film Awards,...

Charlotte Wells’ directorial feature debut, “Aftersun,” took home the most awards of any nominated film at the 25th annual British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), nabbing seven victories out of 16 nominations.

The film spans a 20-year period, beginning with 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) on a father-daughter vacation to Turkey and culminating with her reflection on that experience in adulthood. Upon its premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, “Aftersun” was winner of the French Touch Jury Prize. Most recently, Wells received a breakthrough director prize at the Gotham Awards.

At the Sunday evening ceremony, “Normal People” actor Daisy Edgar-Jones presented the award for best British independent film to Wells. Also added to the feature’s list of accolades were awards for best director, best debut director, best screenplay, best cinematography, best editing and best music supervision.

Director Georgia Oakley’s “Blue Jean” saw a surge of recognition as well, with wins in...

Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells’s acclaimed debut feature Aftersun swept the board, snagging seven wins at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) in London this evening.

The film won Best British Independent Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and The Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director. This evening’s four wins were added to the film’s previously announced haul in the craft categories with three wins including Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Music Supervision.

Georgia Oakley’s 1980s Section 28 era set Blue Jean, which trailed only Aftersun for the most nominations, picked up three awards on the night: Best Lead Performance for Rosy McEwen, Best Supporting Performance for Kerrie Hayes, and Oakley took home the Best Debut Screenwriter award sponsored by Film4.

Elsewhere, Safia Oakley-Green won the Breakthrough Performance award for her role in Andrew Cumming’s debut feature The Origin and Tamara Lawrance and Letitia Wright picked...

Click here to read the full article.

Charlotte Wells’ debut feature Aftersun, starring Paul Mescal and Frankie Corio, was the big winner at this year’s British Independent Film Awards in London, earning seven honors from 16 nominations.

The drama about a father and daughter’s complex relationship won the awards for best British independent film, presented by Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People, Where the Crawdads Sing), best director, best debut director and best screenplay on Sunday night.

The film, which became a breakout hit in Cannes, where it was nabbed by A24 and Mubi, previously also won three craft awards: in the best cinematography category for Gregory Oke, for best editing for Blair McClendon and in the best music supervision category, a new honor introduced this year, for Lucy Bright.

Georgia Oakley’s debut film Blue Jean, about a young teacher forced to lead a double life, earned 13 nominations and four BIFAs.

Charlotte Wells’ debut scooped seven prizes, including best British independent film and best director.

Charlotte Wells’ directorial debut feature Aftersun was the big winner of the 2022 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas), taking seven prizes at Sunday night’s (December 4) ceremony in London.

Wells’ drama won the award for best British independent film, best director, the Douglas Hickox Award for best debut director, and best screenplay, adding to the three craft awards already announced – best cinematography, best editing and best music supervision.

The Cannes premiere follows a daughter as she reflects on her relationship with her complicated father, through memories of a summer holiday in Turkey,...

The awards ceremony takes place today (December 4), starting at 8pm UK time.

The 2022 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas) ceremony is taking place today (December 4) at London’s Old Billingsgate.

The show starts at 8pm UK time, finishing at approximately 10pm.

Screen will be posting all the winners on this page as they are announced during the live ceremony (refresh the page for latest updates).

Leading the pack for nominations is Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, with 16 mentions – the second-most ever for a film at the Bifas, behind only Saint Maud’s record 17 from 2020. The feature has already won three of those awards,...

Charlotte Wells’ indie breakout “Aftersun” continues to build momentum in the indie awards race.

After receiving four Gotham Award nods, “Aftersun” leads the 2022 British Independent Film Awards nominations in 16 categories, followed by 12 for “Blue Jean” and “The Wonder,” respectively. “Living” earned nine nominations and “Flux Gourmet,” “God’s Creatures,” “Men,” and “The Origin” each landed five nods.

The 25th annual BIFAs introduces new performance, first-time documentary feature, and music categories, with female filmmakers dominating the performance, writing, and directing categories for this year’s batch of nominees, recognizing 36 British features. The 2022 BIFA ceremony takes place December 4.

Hosts Sam Claflin and BIFA winner Kosar Ali announced the 2022 BIFA nominations, including former BIFA recipients Emma Thompson, Jessie Buckley, Florence Pugh, and Alice Birch among them. Two Paul Mescal films, “Aftersun” and “God’s Creatures,” are among the top-nominated films, with Mescal in the running for both Best Joint Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance for the respective films.

Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells’s debut feature Aftersun leads the nominations for this year’s British Independent Film Awards with a sweeping 16 nods, including Best Director and Best film.

The film’s impressive nominations haul includes Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Debut Director (the Douglas Hickox Award) and Best Debut Screenwriter nods for Wells and a Best Joint Lead Performance nomination for stars Paul Mescal and newcomer Frankie Corio, who received a Breakthrough Performance nomination. The Barry Jenkins-produced pic is also up for Best British Independent Film and racked up a further nine craft nominations, including Best Casting and Cinematography.

Inspired by, but not based on, Wells’s experiences as the child of young parents, the poignant ’90s-set film explores a father and daughter’s complex relationship against the backdrop of a simmering holiday the pair have taken to a resort in Turkey.

Georgia Oakley’s debut film Blue Jean trails behind with 13 nominations.

Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun” and Georgia Oakley’s “Blue Jean” led the nominations at the 2022 British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) with 16 and 13 nods respectively.

Sebastián Lelio’s “The Wonder” followed with 12 nominations, Oliver Hermanus’ “Living” nine and Peter Strickland’s “Flux Gourmet” seven.

From this year, the awards are permanently going gender neutral for acting categories with the traditional best and supporting actress and actor awards being replaced by best lead performance, best supporting performance, best joint lead performance — for performances that are the joint focus of the film — and best ensemble.

The nominations were revealed at London’s Everyman Broadgate cinema by hosts, actors Sam Clafin (“Peaky Blinders”) and Kosar Ali (double BIFA winner for “Rocks”).

BIFA Nominations 2022

The Richard Harris Award For Outstanding Contribution By An Actor To British Film

To Be Announced

Best British Independent Film

“Aftersun” – Charlotte Wells, Barry Jenkins, Mark Ceryak, Adele Romanski, Amy Jackson

“Blue Jean” – Georgia Oakley,...

Aftersun and Blue Jean are leading the nominations for the 2022 British Independent Film Awards, unveiled on Friday.

Florence Pugh (The Wonder), Emma Mackey (Emily), Paul Mescal (who got nods in two categories: best joint lead performance for Aftersun and best supporting performance for God’s Creatures), Letitia Wright (The Silent Twins), Bill Nighy (Living), Emily Watson (God’s Creatures) and Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) are among the nominees in the now gender-neutral acting, or performance, categories.

Organizers highlighted that it was “a strong year for women filmmakers and performers,” adding: “Women dominate performance, writing and directing categories.”

Aftersun, Charlotte Wells’ debut feature about a father and daughter’s complex relationship, landed 16 nominations for this year’s BIFAs, including for best British independent film, best director, best debut director, best screenplay and best debut screenwriter, along with a best joint lead performance...

Women dominate the performance, writing and directing categories.

Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun, Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean and Sebastian Lelio’s The Wonder lead the nominations for the 2022 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas), with several major categories dominated by women including the new merged performance categories.

At the Bifas 25th edition, Wells’ Aftersun has 16 nominations – the second-most ever for a film at the Bifas, behind only Saint Maud’s record 17 from 2020. Wells is nominated for best British independent film, director, screenplay, debut director and debut screenwriter; while Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal are nominated in the new best joint lead performance category.

Women dominate the performance, writing and directing categories.

Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun and Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean lead the nominations for the 2022 British Independent Film Awards (Bifas), with several major categories dominated by women including the new merged performance categories.

At the Bifas 25th edition, Wells’ Aftersun has 16 nominations – the second-most ever for a film at the Bifas, behind only Saint Maud’s record 17 from 2020. Wells is nominated for best British independent film, director, screenplay, debut director and debut screenwriter; while Frankie Corio and Paul Mescal are nominated in the new best joint lead performance category.

Scroll down for the...

At the 1987 Conservative Party Conference in Britain, then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher issued one of the most grimly memorable quotes of her career: “Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay.” For many of us, it’s a line that now sounds so archaically out of step with contemporary life as to be comical — that “inalienable right” wording ironically appropriated by many a queer-rights cause — though you need only look at Florida’s recent Don’t Say Gay bill to know that Thatcher’s sentiments live among us still. A frank, piercing debut from British writer-director Georgia Oakley, “Blue Jean” is a Thatcher-era period piece that crisply evokes that climate of politically propagated homophobia without preserving it in amber: It effectively puts the past in tacit dialogue with the present.

The year is 1988, and Thatcher...

In the run-up to Cannes, the British Film Institute and the British Council held the Great8 showcase, which presented eight U.K. films from emerging filmmakers. Here are the films selected:

“Aftersun” (drama)

Director/writer: Charlotte Wells

Cast: Paul Mescal, Frankie Corio, Celia Rowlson-Hall

Sales: Charades

Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father 20 years earlier. Memories real and imagined fill the gaps between miniDV footage as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the man she didn’t.

“Birchanger Green” (sci-fi)

Director/writer: Moin Hussain

Cast: Faraz Ayub, Natalie Gavin, Claire Rushbrook, Simon Nagra

Sales: Bankside Films

Adam lives a solitary life. Upon hearing that his estranged father has died, he finds himself in search of answers. Piecing together a complicated image of a man he never knew, Adam starts to become convinced he is descended from an alien race.

Titles include ’Aftersun’, ’Enys Men’, ‘Birchanger Green’ and ‘A Gaza Weekend’.

Cannes premieres Aftersun, sold by Charades, and Enys Men, sold by Protagonist Pictures, are among the titles selected for year’s Great 8, the annual Cannes buyers’ showcase of UK films from emerging directors.

The other six titles are all in post-production.

Now in its fifth edition, the 2022 Great 8 showcase is funded and run by the BFI and the British Council, in partnership with BBC Film and Film4.

Unseen footage from all of the titles will be introduced by their filmmakers and screened on May 12 exclusively to buyers and festival programmers during the online-only showcase,...

The BFI and British Council have revealed the line-up for this year’s Great8 showcase, which allows international distributors and festival programmers to get an early look at eight releases from emerging U.K. filmmakers in the run-up to Cannes Marché.

Now in its fifth year, the showcase on May 12 will allow filmmakers to screen unseen footage from the films, which will be available to buy during the market, which runs from May 17-28.

Of the eight films selected for the showcase, one has also been selected for the official Directors’ Fortnight and another for the Critics’ Week line-up. The remaining six films are in post-production.

The Great8 showcase is funded and organized by the BFI and the British Council, in partnership with BBC Film and Film4. It has previously presented films including “I Am Not A Witch” and “Calm with Horses.”

Neil Peplow, the BFI’s Director of Industry and International Affairs,...

Exclusive: Film Constellation has boarded sales on debut feature Blue Jean, an identity drama set during Margaret Thatcher’s tenure as UK Prime Minister.

The Alienist and Close To Me actress Rosy McEwen stars in the Kleio Films production, which is backed by BBC Film and the BFI, in association with Great Point Media. Set in the north of England in 1988, at a time when Thatcher’s government passed a law stigmatizing gays and lesbians, the film follows Jean, a Pe teacher forced to live a double life. When a new student arrives and threatens to expose her, Jean is pushed to extreme lengths to keep her job and her integrity. Above is a first-look image of McEwen in the feature, which marks the feature directorial debut of Georgia Oakley. Producer is Hélène Sifre. Also starring are Kerrie Hayes (Tin Star) and Lucy Halliday.

Oakley’s shorts have screened at festivals including SXSW,...

BBC has unveiled the first image from new police drama “The Responder,” starring Martin Freeman.

Written by ex-police officer Tony Schumacher and made by Dancing Ledge Productions (“The Salisbury Poisonings”), Freeman stars as Chris, a crisis-stricken, morally compromised urgent response officer who is forced to take on a new rookie partner (Adelayo Adedayo).

Together, they realize that survival in a high-pressure, relentless night-time world will depend on them either helping or destroying each other.

The BBC drama, which was unveiled last year as part of a slate from first-time TV writers working with the public broadcaster, is billed as “holding a mirror up” to the extremes of life on the front line of British policing. The gritty police genre is a big hit with local audiences, who lapped up the latest season of BBC’s “Line of Duty,” which pulled in a record-breaking 12.8 million overnight viewers.

“Tony Schumacher’s scripts...

In today’s Global Bulletin, Women In Motion launches a special International Women’s Day podcast featuring Jane Fonda and Jameela Jamil, Amazon Prime Video announces a new women-fronting original series in India, BritBox heads to Amazon Prime Channels in the U.K., Keshet International acquires three new titles ahead of the London TV Screenings, BBC One unveils new casting for “The Responder,” Young Films Foundation beefs up its writing talent scheme and Paramount Plus goes all in on promoting its service in Latin America.

Podcast

In celebration of International Women’s Day, Kering and Pomellato have released a new special edition of the “Women In Motion” podcast featuring a conversation with Jane Fonda and “The Good Place” star Jameela Jamil.

The new podcast is part of Pomellato for Women, an initiative focusing on female leadership which Jane Fonda has contributed to for the past four years. Fonda was also...

In the last four years the British crime drama Tin Star has thrilled audiences across the world with hard-hitting action and an intimate family drama dynamic. Created by Rowan Joffé, the series follows Tim Roth (Jim Worth), Genevieve O’Reilly (Angela Worth) and Abigail Lawrie (their daughter Anna Worth) as they escape the reach of a violent past, setting up shop in the Canadian Rockies.

Things, as you’d expect, do not go according to plan…

Over the course of three series and twenty-five episodes the Worths have fought hard to protect their family, with the final season seeing the action moving back to Liverpool for an explosive series finale. Newcomers to the cast include Ian Hart, Tanya Moodie, Joanne Whalley and Kerrie Hayes.

Today sees the Blu-ray & DVD release of Tin Star: Liverpool, as well as the Complete Series Boxset, so there’s never been a better time to catch...

Someone alert the Dunphys that their youngest daughter is in trouble: Modern Family co-star Ariel Winter will guest in a fall episode of Law & Order: Svu, executive producer Warren Leight revealed on Twitter.

Winter also hinted at the role via an Instagram photo with the caption, “Filming something new that I’m really excited about.”

More from TVLineTVLine Items: Looking for Alaska Teaser, Padma's Hulu Series and MoreTVLine Items: Ian McShane to Svu, Daphne Oz Joins MasterChef and MoreTV Stars Go Back to Work: Photos From Arrow, This Is Us, Riverdale and More

According to E! Online, Winter’s installment...

The Living and the Dead TV show premieres on BBC America, on October 27, 2016, in a Halloween week "binge-a-thon." In UK, the show premiered on BBC One in June of this year. In mid-August, The Living and the Dead was cancelled by the BBC.From Ashley Pharaoh the six-episode supernatural period drama stars Colin Morgan and Charlotte Spencer. The Living and the Dead TV series cast also includes: Malcolm Storry, Kerrie Hayes, Tallulah Rose Haddon, Joel Gillman, Elizabeth Berrington, Chloe Pirrie, Amber Fernée, Marianne Oldham, Pooky Quesnel, Ben Fox, Sarah Counsell, and David Oakes.Read More…...

Perhaps they should have called it The Quick and the Dead. The The Living and the Dead TV show has been cancelled by The BBC. The first and only season of the spooky supernatural series is slated to premiere on BBC America sometime this fall. In UK, Ashley Pharoah's six-episode drama aired on BBC One between June 28 and August 2, 2016. The British network has confirmed The Living and the Dead TV series will not be renewed for a second season, Digital Spy reports.The Living and the Dead stars Colin Morgan and Charlotte Spencer as newlyweds Nathan and Charlotte Appleby, and Nicholas Woodeson as Reverend Matthew Denning. The cast also includes: Malcolm Storry, Kerrie Hayes, Tallulah Rose Haddon, Joel Gillman, Elizabeth Berrington, Chloe Pirrie, Amber Fernée, Marianne Oldham, Pooky Quesnel,...

Kerrie Hayes got a ''horrific'' nettle rash while filming 'The Mill'. The 27-year-old actress stars as orphan Esther Price in the Channel 4 period drama and she's revealed that while there weren't many accidents on set - which is surprising as it was filmed at an old cotton mill - she did manage to get stung by nettles while shooting a scene for the second series. Quizzed on whether anyone had been hurt while making the drama, which tells the story of life in the Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire during the 1830s, she exclusively told Bang Showbiz: ''I got stung by...

The Mill: Channel 4, 8pm

Daniel (Matthew McNulty) does his best to inspire the workers as the Chartist rally at Kersal Moor approaches.

Esther (Kerrie Hayes) has to deal with Patience (Holly Kenny) and her abuse of young girls in the apprentice house, while Miriam (Sacha Parkinson) causes a stir by offering to teach Peter (Sope Dirisu) how to read, allowing the two to grow closer.

The Inbetweeners Go Global: E4, 9pm

The Inbetweeners 2 is hitting cinemas next week.

To raise anticipation for the comedy sequel, The Inbetweeners Go Global promises clips, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with the cast, crew and celebrity fans.

Family Guy: BBC 3, 10pm

Peter destroys his family's passports during a visit to Italy, and the Griffins subsequently fall victim to the country's immigration laws.

The following episode sees Stevie and Brian travel back to 17th-century Jamestown before realising that the time machine is too dangerous to use,...

The Sunday Prom: BBC Four, 7pm

Presented by Katie Derham, the China Philharmonic Orchestra make their debut at the Proms as they perform music by Elgar and Tchaikovsky.

Haochen Zhang will perform Liszt's 'Piano Concerto No 1', and Alison Balsom will play a new trumpet concerto by Qigang Chen. Closing the show is Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition'.

The Mill: Channel 4, 8pm

The period drama continues. With her head still spinning from the encounter with Will (Mark Strepan), Esther (Kerrie Hayes) comes of age and leaves the apprentice house for a small cellar in Styal village.

Meanwhile, Daniel (Matthew McNulty) is spending more time away from home at political meetings, and Susannah (Holly Lucas) tries to adjust to life away from her friends.

The Only Way Is Essex: ITV2, 10pm

The reality show which follows the lifestyles of wealthy Essex residents.

In the penultimate instalment of the series,...

Monty Python Live: One Down, Five to Go: Gold, 7.30pm

Live broadcast of the final show in Monty Python's London residency.

Taking place at The O2 arena in North Greenwich, the comedy troupe - featuring John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle and Terry Gilliam - perform classic sketches on stage, with help from special guests.

The Mill: Channel 4, 8pm

The second series of the period drama picks up four years later, with the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 taking hold. Migrants from the south show up at Quarry Bank Mill looking for jobs, leading to the workers fearing that everyone's wages will be driven down.

Elsewhere, apprentice Esther (Kerrie Hayes) discovers that her own sister Martha (Vicky Binns) has become a beggar in the mill yard. Also starring Katherine Rose Morley, Sacha Parkinson and Lauren McQueen.

Family Guy: BBC Three, 10pm

Animated comedy from Seth MacFarlane.

The stars of UK television took to the red carpet tonight (May 18) for the 2014 BAFTA Television Awards.

Olivia Colman, Jamie Dornan and Aaron Paul were among the guests who greeted fans and press ahead of the annual ceremony at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

BAFTA Television Awards 2014: All the winners

BAFTA TV Awards 2014: Who's going to triumph? - live blog

Honorary award recipients Julie Walters and Cilla Black also appeared, while Sherlock's Martin Freeman, Kerrie Hayes, Nico Mirallegro and Mary Berry were also in London for the event.

Meanwhile, Strictly Come Dancing trio Tess Daly, Sir Bruce Forsyth and Claudia Winkleman appeared together for the first time since Winkleman's promotion to full-time host was confirmed by the BBC.