Subject:Actors Ellie Bamber and Fionn O’Shea will announce the nominations for the 43nd London Critics’ Circle Film Awards at a lunchtime event on Wednesday 21st December. The critics are currently casting their nomination ballots, with all films released in a UK cinema or to premiere streaming services between February 2022 and February 2023 eligible to be nominated. Then on Sunday 5th February, the awards will return to an in-person ceremony after two years as a virtual event, hosted by actor-writer-comedian Anna Leong Brophy.
Ellie Bamber is a versatile actress with a range of projects both under her belt and coming soon. Film credits include Carol Morley’s The Falling (2014), Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals (2016), Burr Steers’ Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016), Disney’s The Nutcracker and the Five Realms (2018) and British independent films High Resolution (2018) and Extracurricular Activities (2019). On television, Bamber played Cosette in the 2018 Les Misérables miniseries alongside David Oyelowo and Dominic West; appeared as Mandy Rice-Davies in The Trial of Christine Keeler; appeared in The Serpent with Tahar Rahim and Jenna Coleman; and she more recently starred in the fantasy series Willow. On stage credits include The Lady From the Sea at the Donmar, High Society at the Old Vic and Aspects of Love at Menier Chocolate Factory. Forthcoming projects include Anna, about real-life journalist and activist Anna Politkovskaya; Red, White and Royal Blue, costarring Uma Thurman and Stephen Fry; and the IRA thriller The Sniper’s Daughter.
Irish actor Fionn O’Shea first caught industry attention when he starred in the Oscar-nominated 2009 short New Boy. One of Screen International’s “Stars of Tomorrow” for 2017, O’Shea’s film credits include the starring role in John Butler’s award-winning Irish comedy-drama Handsome Devil (2016); the war drama The Aftermath (2019), produced by Ridley Scott; the lead role in acclaimed LGBTQ coming-of-age comedy Dating Amber (2020); Wolf (2021), alongside George MacKay and Lily-Rose Depp; and Cherry (2021), the Russo brothers’ true-life epic starring Tom Holland. On TV he had a key role in the BBC’s hit 2020 series Normal People and also appeared in the four-part drama Innocent (2018). He will soon be seen as the young Samuel Beckett in James Marsh’s film Dance First.
Anna Leong Brophy starred as reporter Olivia Tan in the film Paradise War (2019) and was the voice of Jin in Shaun the Sheep: The Flight Before Christmas (2021). For television, she appeared in Channel 4’s Back, alongside David Mitchell and Robert Webb; BBC’s Last Tango in Halifax; and Netflix’s The Billion Dollar Code and Shadow and Bone. Theatre credits include the RSC’s Henry VI Part 1, Pitcairn at Shakespeare’s Globe and in the title role in Alice in Wonderland for the Storyhouse’s inaugural season. Anna has written for CBBC and Aardman, and is a founding member of award-winning improv group Battle Acts. As one half of the comedy duo EGG, Anna hosted the BBC Radio 4 comedy special Scrambled EGG, which was named comedy of the week. EGG also hosts the Still Legit podcast, reexamining films and TV shows they grew up with.
Since the first edition in 1980, the star-studded Critics’ Circle Film Awards have become an anticipated and respected event in the annual film calendar. In recent years special guests have included Florence Pugh, Olivia Colman, Timothée Chalamet, Dafne Keen, Carey Mulligan, Isabelle Huppert, Michael Fassbender, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Cate Blanchett, Christoph Waltz and Pedro Almodóvar.
Last year’s virtual ceremony featured thank you speeches from all of the winners, including Jane Campion, Olivia Colman, Tilda Swinton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Questlove, Andrew Garfield, Ruth Negga, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Rebecca Hall, Joanna Hogg, Ryusuke Hamagachi and Woody Norman.
Rich Cline, chair of the Critics’ Circle Film Section, commented: “Because our members watch nearly all of the films released in Britain every year, our nominations tend to look unlike all the other awards shows. The Critics’ Circle Film Awards is an integral part of the annual cinema awards-season conversation and has consistently highlighted film achievements that may be overlooked by other groups. I am also delighted that The May Fair Hotel is working with us for an 11th year, and back in-person for the ceremony.”
The winners of the 43rd London Critics’ Circle Film Awards will be announced at The May Fair Hotel on Sunday, 5th February. The awards are voted on by the 200-member Film Section of the Critics’ Circle, the UK’s longest-standing and most prestigious critics’ organisation. The May Fair Hotel, part of Edwardian Hotels London, is the main sponsor of the event, alongside creative industry accountants Nyman Libson Paul LLP.
