[Many thanks to Peter Jordens for bringing this item to our attention.] On December 4, winners were announced for the British Independent Film Awards 2022. Actors Tamara Lawrance, who proudly claims Jamaican roots, and Guyanese-British Letitia Wright won Best Joint Lead Performance in The Silent Twins. The Silent Twins is the true story of twin sisters who only communicated with one another. As a result, they created a rich, fascinating world to escape the reality of their own lives. (Based on the best-selling book The Silent Twins by Marjorie Wallace.) Here is more from the BIFA:

Sunday 4th December: In a star-studded ceremony at Old Billingsgate hosted by Ben Bailey Smith, the winners of the 25th British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) were announced.

The award for Best British Independent Film, presented by Daisy Edgar-Jones, went to Aftersun, Charlotte Wells’ moving directorial debut centred on a daughter’s memorable childhood holiday with her father. Echoing Aleem Khan’s 2021 BIFA wins for After Love, Charlotte scooped three further BIFA awards – Best Director sponsored by Sky Cinema, The Douglas Hickox Award for Best Debut Director sponsored by BBC Film and Best Screenplay, to add to Aftersun’s three craft awards: Best Cinematography sponsored by Kodak and Dirty Looks for Gregory Oke, Best Editing for Blair McClendon and the new Best Music Supervision award for Lucy Bright.

Best Lead Performance went to Rosy McEwen and Best Supporting Performance to Kerrie Hayes for their roles in Georgia Oakley’s 1980s Section 28 era set Blue Jean, which also saw Georgia awarded the Best Debut Screenwriter sponsored by Film4 prize. Previously announced, the Best Casting sponsored by Casting Society and Spotlight award went to Shaheen Baig for her work on the film.

Breakthrough Performance sponsored by Netflix went to Safia Oakley-Green in The Origin, Andrew Cumming’s multi-nominated debut feature in which a nomadic tribe faces a terrifying ancient threat that comes when night falls.

Further new categories for 2022 saw Best 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, and Our River…Our Sky took home the Best Ensemble award for cast members including Zainab Joda, Darina Al Joundi, Amed Hashimi, Mahmoud Abo Al Abbas, Basim Hajar, Labwa Arab, Meriam Abbas and Siham Mustafa, who portray neighbours caught in Baghdad during the civil war of 2006.

Glory in the documentary awards categories went to Nothing Compares, a reflection on the life of fearless trailblazer Sinead O’Connor, which won both the Best Feature Documentary sponsored by Intermission and Best Debut Director – Feature Documentary BIFAs for director Kathryn Ferguson.

Hassan Nazer’s Iran-set Winners, in which three film lovers seek the owner of a very recognisable golden statuette, won this year’s Raindance Discovery Award, also scoring the Breakthrough Producer sponsored by Pinewood and Shepperton Studios award win for Nadira Murray. [. . .]

For more information, see https://www.bifa.film/news/winners-announced-for-british-independent-film-awards-2022, https://www.bifa.film/film/the-silent-twins, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEN2rk__Xms

Also see:
The Silent Twins’ Letitia Wright & Tamara Lawrance connected through music
Focus Features, October 5, 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_vmr2uTwlU