British awards ceremony
The 7th British Independent Film Awards, held on 30 November 2004 and hosted by Richard Jobson, honoured the best British independent films of 2004. For the second year in succession, the award ceremony was held at the Hammersmith Palais, London. Mike Leigh's period drama, "Vera Drake" swept the board, winning every category but one in which it was nominated.
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 2003 and 30 November 2004 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 by James Purefoy on 26 October 2004 at Soho House in London. "Dead Man's Shoes" led with eight nominations, but would fail to win any category in which it was nominated. Winners in fourteen categories were selected from the shortlists and a further three were awarded entirely at the jury's discretion, whose make up included Anthony Minghella, Helena Bonham Carter, Christian Slater, Cate Blanchett, Rosamund Pike, Lynne Ramsay, Sam Taylor-Wood, Skin, Mark Cousins, Laura De Casto (MD, Tartan Films), Antonia Bird, David Aukin, John Akomfrah and Stewart Till. A new category, The Raindance Award, honouring exceptional achievement for filmmakers working against the odds was introduced in this year.
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