Winners announced at the Big Screen industry awards 2022

After a two-year hiatus during the pandemic, Screen International’s Big Screen Awards returned last night for its 11th edition celebrating the achievements of the people and companies whose work it is to get films in front of audiences in the UK.

There was recognition for the BFI London Film Festival’s LFF Critics Mentorship Programme, which won the award for best diversity and inclusion initiative. For five years, the programme has offered the opportunity to previously unpublished writers to be mentored by media professionals in order to help pave the way to future opportunities as film critics and journalists, with many of the scheme’s alumni going on to work in the industry. The jury described the programme as “urgently needed” and applauded how its “short-term benefits of developing young writers are coupled with the long-term objective of championing film language and culture”.

The Green Screen Award is presented to a company or cinema making demonstrable strides as a sustainable workplace. This year the winner was Lewes’ independent cinema Depot, while overall cinema of the year (24 screens and under) was Ilkley Cinema. Both winning venues were supported by the BFI via the UK government’s Culture Recovery Fund.

Big screen event of the year went to the 2022 edition of the Glasgow Film Festival, which achieved a record high of 73% audience capacity on its first in-person edition post-Covid.

Altitude and Intermission Film won best trailer for their work on Clio Barnard’s Ali & Ava, a film funded by the BFI Film Fund using National Lottery money, while best poster design went to Picturehouse Entertainment and Intermission Film for another BFI-backed project – Jerry Rothwell’s autism documentary The Reason I Jump. Best overall PR campaign was won by Premier PR for their strategy for Prano Bailey-Bond’s Censor (another BFI funded film), with best theatrical campaign going to Mubi’s release – supported by the BFI via its Audience Fund – of The Worst Person in the World.

Best British film went to Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, with Philip Barantini recognised as breakthrough director for his one-take kitchen drama Boiling Point (another Audience Fund-supported release). Breakthrough British actor was Honor Swinton Byrne for the lead in the BFI-backed The Souvenir Part II.

For the full list of winners, see the Big Screen Awards website.