# British Independent Film Awards 2003

The 6th British Independent Film Awards, held on 4 November 2003 at the Hammersmith Palais, London, honoured the best British independent films of 2003. The award ceremony was hosted by Andrea Oliver.
As per previous years, only films intended for theatrical release, and those which had a public screening to a paying audience either on general release in the UK or at a British film festival between 1 October 2002 and 30 September 2003 were eligible for consideration. In addition, they needed either to have been produced / majority co-produced by a British company, or in receipt of at least 51% of their budget from a British source or qualified as a British Film under DCMS guidelines. Lastly, they could not be solely funded by a single studio.
Shortlists were announced on 23 September 2003 at Soho House in London, with the number of nominations for each category increased from four to five. Stephen Frears' social thriller, Dirty Pretty Things led with seven nominations. Winners in thirteen categories were selected from the shortlists and a further five were awarded entirely at the jury's discretion, whose make up included Daniel Battsek, Lindy Hemming, Tom Hollander, Lindy King (Agent), Kevin MacDonald, Roman Osin, Tracey Scoffield (Head of Development and Executive Producer, BBC Film), Meera Syal, Colin Vaines and Parminder Nagra.
The awards for Best International Independent Film which had previously been split by English and Foreign language were merged this year. The discretionary Outstanding Contribution by an Actor and Lifetime Achievement awards were also merged and rebranded as The Richard Harris Award. Awards for Best Supporting Actor/Actress, Best British Documentary and Best British Short Film were introduced in this year.

## Winners and nominees

| Best British Independent Film | Best Director |
| Dirty Pretty Things – Stephen Frears 28 Days Later – Danny Boyle Buffalo Soldiers – Gregor Jordan The Magdalene Sisters – Peter Mullan Young Adam – David Mackenzie | Stephen Frears – Dirty Pretty Things Danny Boyle – 28 Days Later David Mackenzie – Young Adam Jim Sheridan – In America Michael Winterbottom – In This World |
| Best Actor | Best Actress |
| Chiwetel Ejiofor – Dirty Pretty Things as Okwe/Olatokumbo Fadipe Paddy Considine – In America as Johnny Sullivan Ewan McGregor – Young Adam as Joe Taylor Kevin McKidd – 16 Years of Alcohol as Frankie Joaquin Phoenix – Buffalo Soldiers as Specialist (SPC) Ray Elwood | Olivia Williams – The Heart of Me as Madeleine Kate Ashfield – This Little Life as Sadie MacGregor Helena Bonham Carter – The Heart of Me as Dinah Samantha Morton – In America as Sarah Sullivan Tilda Swinton – Young Adam as Ella Gault |
| Best Supporting Actor/Actress | Most Promising Newcomer |
| Susan Lynch – 16 Years of Alcohol as Mary Shirley Henderson – Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself as Alice Sophie Okonedo – Dirty Pretty Things as Juliette Adrian Rawlins – Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself as Harbour Benedict Wong – Dirty Pretty Things as Guo Yi | Harry Eden – Pure as Paul Chiwetel Ejiofor – Dirty Pretty Things as Okwe/Olatokumbo Fadipe Romola Garai – I Capture The Castle as Cassandra Mortmain Jamie Sives – Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself as Wilbur Fenella Woolgar – Bright Young Things as Agatha Runcible |
| Best Screenplay | Best International Independent Film |
| Steven Knight – Dirty Pretty Things Eric Weiss, Nora Maccoby and Gregor Jordan – Buffalo Soldiers Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi – Calendar Girls Peter Mullan – The Magdalene Sisters Anders Thomas Jensen and Lone Sherfig – Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself | Cidade de Deus (City of God), Brazil – Fernando Meirelles Belleville Rendez-vous – Sylvain Chomet Secretary – Steven Shainberg Spirited Away – Hayao Miyazaki Whale Rider – Niki Caro |
| Best Technical Achievement | Best Achievement in Production |
| In This World – Peter Christelis (Editing) Tim Alban, Joakim Sundstrom and Stuart Wilson – In This World(Sound) David Holmes – Buffalo Soldiers (Music) Michael Howells – Bright Young Things (Production Design) John Rhodes – 16 Years of Alcohol (DOP / Cinematography) | In This World – Andrew Eaton and Anita Overland 16 Years of Alcohol – Hamish McAlpine 28 Days Later – Andrew Macdonald and Jon Burton Bright Young Things – Gina Carter and Miranda Davis Buffalo Soldiers – Rainer Grupe and Ariane Moody |
| Douglas Hickox Award (Best Debut Director) | Best British Short Film |
| Richard Jobson – 16 Years of Alcohol Stephen Fry – Bright Young Things Sarah Gavron – This Little Life Jeremy Wooding – Bollywood Queen Penny Woolcock – The Principles of Lust | Dad's Dead – Chris Shepherd 72 Faced Liar – Mark Waites Extn 21 – Lizzie Oxby Perfect – Salaryman 6 – Jake Knight |
| Best British Documentary | Jury 2003 Award – Best Ensemble Cast |
| Bodysong – Simon Pummell 100 Doors – Kerri Davenport-Burton Bugs! – Mike Slee The Game of their Lives – Daniel Gordon Hoover Street Revival – Sophie Fiennes | The Magdalene Sisters |
| The Variety Award | The Richard Harris Award |
| Ian McKellen | John Hurt |
| Special Jury Prize | British Airways Bursary for the NFTS |
| Jeremy Thomas | Lenka Clayton |

### Films with multiple nominations

| Nominations | Film |
| 7 | Dirty Pretty Things |
| 5 | Buffalo Soldiers |
| 5 | 16 Years of Alcohol |
| 4 | Bright Young Things |
| 4 | In This World |
| 4 | Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself |
| 4 | Young Adam |
| 3 | 28 Days Later |
| 3 | In America |
| 3 | The Magdalene Sisters |
| 2 | The Heart of Me |
| 2 | This Little Life |